Sen. Ann Millner of Utah Elected as 2026 Chair of WICHE Commission

BOULDER, Colorado – Sen. F. Ann Millner of Utah has been elected as the 2026 chair of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE).

Millner, who represents Senate District 5, covering parts of Davis, Morgan, and Weber counties in Utah, is a champion of preparing a strong workforce, improving public and higher education, bolstering economic growth and Utah’s strategic industry clusters, and planning for the state’s long-term needs in energy abundance and critical minerals accessibility.

“Sen. Millner’s election as chair reflects her deep commitment to higher education and workforce development,” said WICHE President Demarée Michelau. “Her rare combination of experience as both a college president and a state legislator brings valuable insight to the Commission’s work. Through her leadership, she fosters collaboration across our region and works to ensure our postsecondary institutions remain focused on delivering successful outcomes for students throughout the Utah and West.”

The WICHE Commission is comprised of 48 commissioners appointed by their respective governors from the 15 Western states and the U.S. Pacific Territories and Freely Associated States. The commissioners are higher education leaders and include state higher education executive officers, college and university presidents, legislators, business and community leaders, and other key partners. Together, they guide WICHE’s strategic direction and assure that the Western Regional Education Compact, which the Western states adopted in 1953, is carried out for the benefit of the region.

2025 Commission Chair Barbara Damron, a professor emerita and visiting professor at the University of New Mexico (UNM) Health Sciences Center College of Nursing, now serves as immediate past chair, while Frankie Eliptico, senior vice president at Northern Marianas College (NMC) in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), was elected vice chair.

Damron was the first nurse elected a WICHE Commission officer, and Eliptico is the first commissioner to be elected as a WICHE officer from the U.S. Pacific Territories and Freely Associated States, a shared membership among six Pacific jurisdictions — three U.S. territories and three freely associated states: American Samoa, CNMI, Guam, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and the Republic of Palau.

“It is a privilege to lead the WICHE Commission at a time when higher education is facing both challenges and opportunities,” Millner said. “Education is the foundation of economic opportunity and upward mobility, and we cannot have one without the other. I look forward to working with my fellow commissioners across the West to strengthen the link between education and workforce development so we can help more students gain the skills and credentials that our economies need to grow and thrive.”

Elected to the Senate in 2015, Millner serves as chair of the Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee, the Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee, the School Security Task Force, and the Senate Ethics Committee. She contributes her leadership and expertise to several legislative collaborative organizations across the nation, including the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) and the ExcelinEd Policy Leaders Network. She is distinguished as a Regents professor of health administration and served as president of Weber State University from 2002 to 2012. Under Millner’s leadership, Weber State University expanded into a multicampus institution and saw a nearly 40% rise in enrollment. Born in Middlesboro, Kentucky, and raised in Tennessee, she has a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Tennessee, a master’s degree from Southwest Texas State University, and a doctorate from Brigham Young University.

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Media contact:
Melanie Sidwell
303-834-5278
msidwell@wiche.edu

About WICHE
A regional interstate compact, the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) has worked collaboratively to expand educational access and excellence for all residents of the West since 1953. By promoting innovation, cooperation, resource sharing, and sound public policy, WICHE strengthens higher education’s contributions to the region’s social, economic, and civic life. Visit wiche.edu.

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