President's Past Messages

Dr. Ed Seidel

A Message From Dr. Seidel to the UW Community

I hope everyone is staying safe, as we all continue to adjust to the disruptions of the new environment we find ourselves in. I could not have imagined the current crisis when I visited Laramie almost eight weeks ago. While Wyoming is facing unprecedented challenges, I recognize that the UW community is also national and global, with many of our UW students and families facing potentially even more difficult times. I want to tell you that the university is doing everything it can to support you at a distance wherever you may be, across the state, or around the world -- for as long as it takes -- and we will be here for you when you return to campus.


Engaging our Students

I hope you all had a great holiday weekend – one that was certainly well deserved by all after everything we’ve experienced in the last months. I heard you had a bit of snow, which sounds good to me, as it was too hot here to go for the runs that sustain me through all the indoor virtual meetings we now seem to have to stay in touch with each other!


Commencement Reflections

I hope you were able to share in the virtual spring 2020 commencement ceremony last Saturday. Perhaps a silver lining to the situation we find ourselves in is that people like me, more than 1,000 miles away, were able to attend virtually, just as everyone did. I hope many others from your families and friends who are scattered about the world were able to join as well. The virtual ceremony was extremely well done, and in some ways was almost more personal because it brought a number of UW students, faculty and even the commencement speakers right into our homes.


Spring Semester Draws to a Close

In what perhaps feels like a blink for our students, spring classes officially drew to a close last week in Wyoming! This week marks finals, followed by commencement on Saturday. We recognize that spring commencement is going to feel very different, and I applaud the many efforts being put forth by UW’s students, parents, friends and administration to create a virtual celebration to adequately convey the enormous depth of pride we have in the achievements of all our graduates!


Preparing to Hit the Ground Running

It has been a little over a week since my first message to you, and my thoughts are frequently with the UW community and the enormous amount of work and adjustments all of you are addressing on a daily basis. As he communicated in his May message, President Theobald continues work with campus leaders to lead a herculean effort to manage daily operations, teaching and learning support, community and state engagement, all while planning for our future with the uncertainties that the COVID-19 virus brings. Through prompt communications, outreach and continuing analysis...


Arriving at Our New Home

Tearful Goodbyes and Arriving at Our New Home


Steady Leadership in Complex Times

In less than three weeks I will take the reins as president of the University of Wyoming, and in just a week I’ll be en route to Laramie from Champaign. As excited as Gabrielle and I are about this transition, it also comes at a time full of complexity and concern that we could not have imagined just a few months ago. We are in the midst of a global pandemic that continues expanding across the world. This has had unprecedented impacts on our families, our lives and our economy. And our nation is experiencing turmoil driven by racial, social and economic inequality. In such crises, higher education institutions like UW are looked to for leadership, and as essential components of the solutions our society needs to address such complex challenges.


Let's Answer This Call of Distress

As I am sure you are all seeing in Wyoming or wherever you may be, many communities around the nation are in turmoil in reaction to the killing of George Floyd, and to the history of racism, intolerance and bigotry and their terrible outcomes that this event signifies to people across the nation and across the world. Newspapers and television networks are showing daily what is happening in cities like Minneapolis, New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere, telling a painful narrative of national upheaval that is perhaps unparalleled since the era of the civil rights movement of the 1960s.






Find us on Instagram (Link opens a new window)Find us on Facebook (Link opens a new window)Find us on Twitter (Link opens a new window)Find us on LinkedIn (Link opens a new window)Find us on YouTube (Link opens a new window)