U.S. Department of the Interior/Flickr
Governor Brian Sandoval gives a speech about conservation on April 21, 2015. Gov. Sandoval announced he was leaving his position at MGM Resorts to apply to be the University of Nevada, Reno President

The Nevada System of Higher Education announced the four finalists for the office of the University of Nevada, Reno’s president.

The four finalists are Brian Sandoval, Jonathan Koppell, Jennifer Evans-Cowley and Chaden Djalali. All four candidates will have open forums at the university on Monday, Sept. 14 and Tuesday, Sept. 15. The NSHE Board of Regents will select the next president on Sept. 17.

Brian Sandoval

Currently, Brian Sandoval, a university alumni, works as a law fellow at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ Boyd School of Law. In the role Sandoval teaches and develops curriculum around gaming law and public education. 

Sandavol is also on the Board of Directors for Coeur Mining, a precious metals mining  company with five open operations. Two operations are located in Lovelock and Beatty, Nev. Sandavol advises the company on legal issues, environmental issues, state affairs and financial wellbeing, according to his resume. 

Additionally, he was appointed as a Senior Fellow at the University of Southern California Center on Communication Leadership & Policy. Sandavol will be involved in conversations surrounding voting and what states and counties can do to provide voters with accurate information. 

Sandoval served as Nev. state governor from 2011-2019. In his governance he funded $10 million in the Created the Knowledge Fund which encouraged research and the commercialization of research in Nevada universities. 

Sandoval holds a B.A in English from the university and holds a J.D from The Ohio State University. 

Jonathan Koppell

Jonathan Koppell serves as the Dean for the Dean of the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions at Arizona State University. In the role Koppell established a partnership with Hainan University in Haikou, China to promote the International Tourism College at ASU. Additionally, he added 23 new degree programs in the college and increased funding for the college, according to his resume.

Prior to serving as the dean for the college, he was the senior advisor to the provost at ASU. 

Prior to his transfer to Arizona State University, Koppell served as the associate director, and later, the director of the Millstein Center of Governance and Performance at Yale University. He was a Fullbright lecturer in Shanghai, China in 2003.  

Koppell received his A.B. in Government at Harvard College in 1993. He also received his M.A and PhD. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Jennifer Evans-Cowley

Jennifer Evans-Cowley currently works at the University of North Texas in Denton, Tex. Evans-Cowley was appointed as the Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs in 2017. In this position, she designed a Hispanic Serving Institution Initiative, established more than 75 new faculty positions, deployed a continuous enrollment strategy and added 26 new academic programs, according to her resume.

Prior to her appointment at the University of North Texas, she worked in multiple positions at Ohio State University from 2001-2017. These positions included Vice Provost for Capital Planning and Regional Campuses, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Administration in the College of Engineering, Section Head for City and Regional Planning and Associate Director for the Center for Urban and Regional Analysis. She also worked as a professor for the duration of her time at Ohio State University.

She also has experience in city planning positions in multiple cities.

Evans-Crowley received her B.S. in Political Science from Texas A&M, Master’s degrees from University of North Texas and Texas A&M and her Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Science from Texas A&M.

Chaden Djalali

Chaden Djalali’s most recent experience prior to applying for the presidential position is as Ohio University’s Executive Vice President and Provost. Additionally, Djalali worked as a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Ohio University.

While working as Ohio University’s Executive Vice President and Provost, his office ran searches for six deans in various departments, appointed a new director to the Title IX office and pushed funding from the Provost’s Office to increase the number of students involved in research.

Djalali stepped down from his Provost position at OU after holding the position for less than two years this past March. 

Djalali worked as the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Iowa from 2012-2018. Here, Djalali’s administration “led CLAS in the successful implementation of its 2011-2016 strategic plan,” according to Djalali’s CV. 

Djalali holds both a BS and MS from University of Paris XI in Physics. Additionally, he holds a PhD and Postdoctoral degree from IPN-Orsay in Paris, France.