MIDWESTERN ROOTS

There is no stoplight in Elkader. No McDonald’s. Central Community High School, from which Watkins graduated in 1979, serves seven agricultural communities largely settled by Scandinavian immigrants who recognized home in the barren, brisk beauty of what is known as the Driftless Area.

Watkins’ father, Peter Watkins, proved a powerful motivator for his daughter. Peter’s mother died giving birth to him in 1932, and he and his sister were raised “wonderfully” by two elderly grandparents. After graduating from high school, Peter spent four years in the Navy—which made him eligible for the G.I. Bill. Among other benefits, it provided “a life-changing opportunity for people to go to college,” Watkins says.

“Think about that—how did my dad get from what was a pretty rough start to becoming a doctor of veterinary medicine?” she asks. “It really is remarkable for someone who had no financial help from anybody to make his way through a DVM degree. ”The G.I.Bill, along with support from Ruth’s mother, who worked as a second-grade teacher while Peter completed veterinary school, made the difference.

“How do we make sure that that kind of mobility and change in life happens for people today—not just access to higher education but upward mobility in terms of achievement?” Watkins asks. “What is the life-changing innovation for the 21st century that the G.I. Bill was for the 20th? That is a question all of us can be asking.”

Peter Watkins had what his daughter describes as an All Creatures Great and Small  kind of practice, referencing the British veterinarian and author James Herriot. He worked with dairy and beef cattle, pigs, and other farm animals, but also “everybody’s beloved pets.” The entire family, which included two brothers, pitched in. Ruth filled in occasionally as office telephone receptionist.

“It was a good way to grow up,” she says.

A GAP YEAR

After high school, it was off to Iowa State University, which her father and other family members had attended. But the university was not the right fit for Watkins. She transferred to the University of Iowa midway through her sophomore year, and then, when summer came, she decided not to re-enroll. “I never felt very connected to an academic program at either of those institutions,” she says. “I didn’t really know what I wanted to do.”

Watkins got a job as a counselor at a summer camp and stayed on when the season was over. Around Thanksgiving, she found a new job working in a public school with a communications disorder specialist—a field of work she would fall in love with. “I worked with individuals who had communication difficulties and learned what a limiter that was on their potential—not because they weren’t bright or didn’t have the talent, but because they couldn’t convey it to the rest of the world. I learned about the real power of communication, both in self-empowerment and self-determination and in being able to live up to your potential.”

Watkins went back to school—this time at the University of Northern Iowa—with a new focus and zeal for studying speech-language pathology. It was there that Watkins received the nudge that set her on a career in academia. John E. Bernthal, then a professor in the Communicative Disorders program, suggested Watkins forgo being a practitioner and instead pursue an advanced degree and join the team generating knowledge.

“He was the first person to say, ‘You are a very capable person, you’re bright, you are a good writer, you should think more expansively about your future,’ ” Watkins says. “For me, that was a powerful thing. I, of course, had not thought much at all about the possi- bility of an academic career, and his words created the possibility.”

Next stop was the University of Kansas, where Watkins completed master’s and doctoral degrees in child language/speech language pathology. Her mentor, Mabel Rice, had created what was at the time an innovative interdisciplinary doctoral program that brought together psychology, linguistics, special education, and speech and hearing science. Watkins says she learned from Rice how to integrate people from different backgrounds and perspectives to understand and solve problems.

Rice is quick to return the compliment. Describing Watkins, she says, “She established a reputation as a strong scholar in the early years before she followed her interest into university-level leadership.” And as a graduate student, it was clear Watkins was a natural leader. “She conveys this ability to make meaningful connections with people and to create a sense of team, to pull together and do what is needed to move forward,” Rice says.

Watkins launched her academic career at the University of Texas at Dallas and then returned to the Midwest and a tenure-track position at the University of Illinois. Administrative opportunities came not long after she received tenure—first as an associate dean, then associate provost, and then vice provost of academic affairs.

It was during these years as an administrator that Watkins heard her own experience with caring faculty members repeated in countless transformational stories of people she met. “You never know which student or at what moment a student needs to hear that encouragement or is receptive to it,” she says. “You just want to be sure, as faculty, that you are providing that as often as you can.”

STUDENTS FIRST

Watkins is an early riser. “Five a.m. is precious time,” she says. “It’s hard to schedule a meeting at that hour.” This is when she slips on her sneakers, gets her walking buddy Ben—a rescue golden retriever adopted shortly after the move to Utah—and heads outdoors to power walk and think “about what we’re doing, what we need to do.”

If an empty Saturday materializes, Watkins is likely to fill it with sports—a workout, bicycling, or occasionally golf with her husband, Bob Young (who is retired), or an evening with friends or at a U event.

But the truth is that such days are few and far between. Watkins is focused on what’s next.

The U’s future acceleration, as Watkins sees it, will come from ensuring that faculty have the resources, facilities, first-rate colleagues, and high-caliber students they need to excel, as well as opportunities for new collaborations across campus. She also is carrying forward Pershing’s dedication to promoting student success.

“Under her leadership [as a senior vice president], we created many programs to immerse students in their learning process and the campus community, increase graduation rates, provide real-world experiences that lead to jobs, and improve the quality and value of the education they receive,” says Pershing. “I am confident President Watkins will add to and improve upon that shared vision, along with implementing her priorities.”

Watkins says the U is ready to move student success forward one more step.

“Our colleagues in health sciences have focused sharply on bringing an exceptional patient experience,” she says. “I think the next phase for us is thinking about the exceptional educational experience, which can continue to advance the retention and graduation rate outcomes we are striving for.”

Watkins will be working to ensure that the University of Utah is recognized nationally for its scholarship and student success, but also that it is seen as the University for Utah—the place that draws well-prepared students from throughout the state who receive a first-rate education that prepares them to enter the workforce equipped to meet needs and excel, the place that solves the problems of greatest importance to Utah residents, and the institution that meets communities’ health care needs.

“The U has never been stronger, by many measurable indicators,” Watkins says. “The largest freshman class, the most academically well-prepared, and the most diverse came to us in the fall of 2017. Overall research funding has increased by $100 million over the past five years. The university is doing relevant work that is garnering support of donors. This is a university on the move, doing important work, making great things happen, solving problems, and attracting talent.

“We are the up and comer,” Watkins says, “and people see that all around the country. The secret is out. This is Utah’s time.”