Utah Valley University has appointed Dr. Vessela Ilieva as dean of the university’s
School of Education. Ilieva has been serving as the interim dean since fall 2018 and
was officially named dean in April 2019.
“Dr. Ilieva is a leader in the state in educational innovation, based her experiences
as a teacher, administrator, and scholar,” said Jeffery E. Olson, UVU senior vice
president of academic affairs. “She has worked extensively with K-12 communities in
our service region and led efforts to develop and implement a cutting-edge embedded
clinical teacher preparation program.”
Ilieva joined UVU in 2010 as an assistant professor in the School of Education. Prior
to that, she served as an assistant professor at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
A native of Bulgaria, she received a master’s degree in engineering from the Technical
University in Sofia, Bulgaria, and a master’s degree in second language teaching and
a doctorate in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in mathematics education
from Utah State University.
A self-proclaimed “global educator,” Ilieva’s work focuses on learning and teaching
in ways that are accessible and understandable to every child and consider local and
global contexts.
“As our mission statement indicates, the UVU School of Education will continue to
create a positive impact through meaningful innovation, engaged pedagogy, rigorous
preparation, inclusion and diversity, and transformative collaborations,” Ilieva said.
“We will continue to be proactive in preparing quality educators and clinicians capable
of positively impacting learners, individuals, and communities.”
Dr. Vessela Ilieva
