Why Westminster's new president won't need a GPS to find her way around Salt Lake City

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Sylvia Torti will become Westminster University's 20th president, succeeding Beth Dobkin.
• Torti previously served as dean of the Honors College at the University of Utah.
• Her priorities include growing enrollment, financial health, and strengthening community partnerships.

SALT LAKE CITY — A new name will soon be etched on the door of the president's office at Utah's Westminster University.

The Salt Lake City private school announced Wednesday that Sylvia Torti will be the institution's 20th president when Westminster President Beth Dobkin retires later this year.

Hired in 2018, Dobkin is Utah's longest-tenured university president.

The Westminster job won't be Torti's first experience leading a higher education institution. She currently serves on the opposite end of the country as president of the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine.

But Westminster's new chief won't need a GPS app to find her way around Salt Lake City.

For 11 years — from 2012 to 2023 — Torti served as University of Utah's dean of the Honors College.

Torti holds a doctorate from the University of Utah School of Biological Sciences and a bachelor's degree from Earlham College.

"We are absolutely thrilled to announce Dr. Torti's appointment to become our 20th president," said Westminster board of trustees chair Preston Chiaro in a university release.

"The board has enormous confidence in Dr. Torti's ability to embrace change while honoring our core mission and lead us into the future."

Torti's hiring follows a national search that stretched over several months. The presidential search committee included Westminster trustees and representatives from the school's staff, faculty, student body, alumni and trustee emeriti.

Added board of trustees vice chair Amy Wadsworth and trustee Danny Giovale in a joint statement: "Dr. Torti's extensive experience in higher education, from leading a small liberal arts college within an R1 research university right here in Utah to becoming a rapidly transformative leader at a well-respected institution like College of the Atlantic, immediately stood out to us as the right leader to take Westminster into the future."

Westminster's soon-to-be president called her selection "an incredible honor."

"I've long admired Westminster's unique role in the ecosystem of higher education in Utah — rooted in the liberal arts and dedicated to building meaningful lives through learning," said Torti in a school release.

"Higher education is more than the first step toward a job — it's about developing personal meaning for the kind of life one will lead and building capacities to use one's talents for the common good."

University of Utah President Taylor Randall is enthused for his former colleague's return to the state's academic community.

"As former dean of the U.'s Honors College, she brings a deep commitment to student success, engagement, and the kind of innovative leadership that will strengthen higher education in our state," said Randall in a statement provided to the Deseret News.

"This is an exciting moment for Westminster — and I wish Sylvia the best as she takes on this new role."

A memorable couple of years at one of Utah's oldest colleges

The selection of the school's 20th president comes at a historic moment at the college nestled in the city's Sugar House neighborhood.

Last year, the institution — which was founded in 1875 by the First Presbyterian Church — celebrated its 150th birthday.

The school made regional higher education history when Westminster College became the first accredited two-year junior college in the Intermountain West region. By 1935, it was a four-year college and, in 1949, began offering bachelor degrees in several majors.

The school ended its denominational relationship with the Presbyterian Church in 1974.

Then in 2023, the school became Westminster University, reflecting its wide range of graduate and professional degree offerings.

Approximately 1,100 undergraduate and graduate students call Westminster University their current academic home.

A president's mission: Grow enrollment — while remaining financially sound

In her first years as Westminster's president, Torti will focus on uniting the campus "around a shared vision from growing enrollment and ensuring the university's long-term financial health," according to the university.

Key priorities reportedly will include expanding community partnerships, increasing fundraising, improving how Westminster tells its story to prospective students, and aligning academic programs to prepare students for both workforce readiness and meaningful careers.

While at the University of Utah, Torti directed a liberal arts and sciences college of more than 2,200 students within a major research university.

During her tenure, the honors college significantly expanded its faculty, staff, and budget, increased honors degree completion by 150%, doubled student diversity, and raised "significant support" for scholarships and programs, according to the news release.

A prolific writer, Torti has also published across a variety of genres — including scientific work and creative writing and fiction.

After attending Westminster University's 151st commencement exercises on May 9, Torti is expected to begin her leadership role at the school in July and be formally inaugurated this fall.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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Utah higher educationUtahEducationSalt Lake County

Jason Swensen

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Jason Swensen is a Deseret News staff writer on the Politics and the West team. He has won multiple awards from the Utah Society of Professional Journalists. Swensen was raised in the Beehive State and graduated from the University of Utah. He is a husband and father — and has a stack of novels and sports biographies cluttering his nightstand.