Jay Stephens

Jay Stephens is visiting the University of New Mexico from Kansas State University where he currently serves as the Vice President for Human Capital Services. Prior to K-State he served for two years as the Associate Vice President for Human Resources at Boise State University. Before Boise State he spent four years as the Director of Human Resources, Affirmative Action Officer and Title IX Coordinator at Southern Oregon University. He also spent five years in Utah as the Director of Human Resources at Utah State University-Eastern.

This is his 18th year as the chief human resources officer at a university. Before working in higher education, he was a Human Resources Analyst in the Office of Human Resources at the Utah Department of Human Services.

He currently is the chair of the national board of directors for the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR). He also serves on the TIAA National Advisory Council and the Kansas Board of Regents Retirement Plan Committee.

He grew up in Nevada near Death Valley. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History with a minor in Portuguese and a Master of Public Administration with an emphasis in HR Management. He speaks Portuguese and lived in Portugal and the Azores islands for several years. He enjoys playing golf even though he is not great at it and also enjoys woodworking and doing just about anything with his family. His wife, April, is from Washington state. They have three children and two miniature dachshunds.