UW Board of Trustees Appoints Sheetz as Executive Vice President

A senior higher education administrator, physicist and former military officer has been named executive vice president of the University of Wyoming.

Kraig Sheetz, currently serving as the vice dean for engagement and research at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, will fill a key leadership role in the administration of incoming UW President Shane Reeves. Both are scheduled to begin their UW duties in July.

Sheetz's appointment was approved today (Wednesday) by the UW Board of Trustees.

"The University of Wyoming's mission calls for someone who can operate across research, academics and administration with equal credibility. Kraig brings all of that," Reeves says. "I'm excited to have him as part of the leadership team."

Sheetz holds a bachelor's degree in geophysics from Millersville University; a master's degree in geophysics from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology; a master's degree in applied physics from the Naval Postgraduate School in California; and a doctorate in applied physics from the Colorado School of Mines.

In 2018, Sheetz retired from active duty after more than 28 years in the U.S. Army. Early in his Army career, he served as a military intelligence officer, and he spent the second half of his career at West Point, where he was an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering, researcher in the Photonics Research Center, director of the dean's staff and vice dean for operations.

Before his current role as vice dean for engagement and research at West Point, which began in 2023, Sheetz served as executive vice president and dean of the School of Natural Science and Mathematics at Mount St. Mary's University from 2018-23.

"The University of Wyoming serves the state and its people in a fundamental way. That mission matters to me, and I'm looking forward to being a part of the important work ahead of us," Sheetz says.

In his current role at West Point, Sheetz led all strategic communications and research activities for the U.S. Military Academy's academic program; developed and led the West Point Werx Innovation Hub, which integrates research across 27 centers and over 200 partners to tackle the Army's and nation's most challenging programs; oversaw the Office of Research, with a research portfolio of over $22 million; and oversaw the Office of Engagement, including the expansion of the West Point Press, which produces peer-reviewed monographs and journals, digital textbooks, white papers, articles, reports, proceedings and podcasts.

His professional research interest is ultrashort pulse lasers. Sheetz is an avid cyclist and outdoorsman. He and his wife, Lori, an educator in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and outreach leader, are not strangers to Wyoming: They enjoy spending time at their cabin near Dubois in the Wind River Mountains. They have two adult children: Keila, a biochemist, and Kraig, an Army officer.