State Board of Regents Elects New Chair

During its June meeting at Snow College, the State Board of Regents elected current vice chairman, Jed H. Pitcher, to serve as the new chairman of the board. The board also tabled its vote for a new vice chair until further notice. Pitcher replaces Chairman Nolan E. Karras, who has served two consecutive two-year terms and is no longer eligible for re-election as chair. Karras will continue to fulfill his appointment to the Board of Regents.

Pitcher, appointed to the Board of Regents in 2001, previously chaired both the Regents’ Finance and Facilities Committee and the Utah Higher Education Assistance Authority Board of Directors. He is also a member of the Utah College of Applied Technology Board of Trustees.

 

A business and community leader, Pitcher recently retired as the chairman of the board of Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield of Utah and as the president and chief operating officer of The Regence Group, the parent company of Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield of Utah. He is

currently involved in the Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield of Utah Community Board, the Sunshine Terrace Foundation Board of Directors and the Lakeview Hospital Board of Directors. He was formerly with the Utah Opera Company Board of Directors and the Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, and has served on numerous community, arts, banking and health insurance boards. Pitcher has also held national positions of leadership within the Blue Cross Blue Shield system.

 

Pitcher, a Utah native, earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration from Utah State University. He and his wife, MerLynn, are the parents of four children.