Dr. David B. Ashley became the eighth president of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in July, 2006. This emerging research university, located in one of the nation’s fastest growing urban areas, currently enrolls more than 27,000 students with a projected enrollment of 35,000 by 2010 and employs more than 3,000 faculty and staff.
Prior to coming to UNLV, President Ashley served as Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost at the University of California, Merced and held the Shaffer-George Chair in Engineering. He has also served as Dean of Engineering at The Ohio State University and has held Civil Engineering faculty positions at the University of California-Berkeley, the University of Texas at Austin, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Dr. Ashley’s principal research and teaching activities are in the area of construction project planning, focusing primarily on risk analysis and management of large-scale, complex projects. His recent studies have addressed innovative project financing and new project procurement approaches. His work with this field has brought him recognition as a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator and from the American Society of Civil Engineers with the 2004 Peurifoy Construction Research Award and the 1992 Construction Management Award. In 2000, he also received an Honorary Doctorate from the Chalmers University in Sweden for his academic contributions.
President Ashley holds B.S. and M.Sc. degrees in Civil Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and M.Sc. (Engineering-Economic Systems) and Ph.D. (Construction Management) degrees from Stanford University.