Biography

Biography: President M. Duane Nellis

M. Duane Nellis began serving as the University of Idaho’s 17th president on July 1, 2009.

As the university's chief executive officer, President M. Duane Nellis provides robust and engaging leadership for the University of Idaho, by: supporting 42 statewide extension offices and university satellite locations in Boise, Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, Twin Falls and Idaho Falls; working with the WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho) program to ensure that medical education in Idaho is supported, along with the 20 first-year medical students on the Moscow campus each year; and by being actively engaged with the university alumni, friends and donors around the world.

Previously, Dr. Nellis served as provost and senior vice president of Kansas State University, which has more than 23,000 students, 1,600 faculty, an annual budget of more than $730 million, and annual research funding that exceeds $215 million. He oversaw 12 deans and 10 other units, including the offices of the vice provost for information technology services and the vice president for research.

At Kansas State, he was responsible for strengthening its national leadership in selected strategic areas through targeted excellence investments, restructured and new programs that augmented student learning opportunities, and enhanced diversity and civic engagement among faculty, staff, and students.

Dr. Nellis also served for seven years at West Virginia University as dean of the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, WVU's largest academic college. At WVU, he led a highly successful capital fundraising campaign, oversaw the planning and construction of a new $60 million Life Sciences Building, provided leadership that led to numerous college faculty and student successes, including the establishment of a new National Geospatial Development Center, a Center for Writing Excellence, and a Math Learning Institute, a revitalized WVU Press, and he strengthened social justice and related diversity programs across the college and university.

In his professional role, he has served in various leadership positions as well. Dr. Nellis is currently on the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (formerly known as the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges) Academic Officers Executive Council (and National Chair Elect for this group). He recently served as president of the Association of American Geographers, one of the largest professional geography organizations in the world. He is also past president of the National Council for Geographic Education; past president of Gamma Theta Upsilon, the International Geographic Honor Society; past president of the Kansas Academy of Sciences; and, he served as one of ten members of the National Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences Research Universities Committee.

Dr. Nellis is recognized nationally and internationally for his research utilizing satellite data and geographic information systems to analyze various dimensions of the earth’s land surface. This research has been funded by more than 50 grants (as principal investigator and co-principal investigator) totaling more than $3.0 million dollars from sources such as NASA, National Geographic Society, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This research has taken Dr. Nellis to such faraway places as Botswana, where he has analyzed processes of desertification due to overgrazing on the fringes of the Kalahari Desert. His research has led to more than 100 articles and reports in a wide range of professional journals, and 15 books and book chapters. He has given more than 100 professional presentations and has been invited to speak at more than 60 universities and related settings internationally.

He has been further recognized internationally for his research and teaching through numerous awards, such as receiving national honors from the Association of American Geographers (AAG) in 2001, the AAG’s John Fraser Hart Award for Excellence in Research, and the Outstanding Contributions Award by the AAG’s Remote Sensing Specialty Group. In addition, Dr. Nellis received the Young Research Scholar Award by the Institute of British Geographers, and Kansas State’s University Outstanding Teaching Award and University Advisor of the Year Award, during his earlier tenure at Kansas State. 

President M. Duane Nellis is a native of the Northwest. He was born in Spokane, Wash. He met and married his wife, Ruthie, while pursuing his bachelor's degree in geography at Montana State University. He received his master's and doctoral degrees in geography at Oregon State University.