Dr. Astrid S. Tuminez (pronounced too-MEE-nez) was appointed the seventh president of Utah Valley University in 2018. Born in a farming village in the Philippine province of Iloilo, she moved with her parents and siblings to the slums of Iloilo City when she was 2 years old, her parents seeking better educational opportunities for their children.
Her pursuit of education eventually took her to the United States, where she graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in international relations and Russian literature from Brigham Young University (1986). She later earned a master's degree from Harvard University in Soviet Studies (1988) and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in political science (1996).
Before UVU, President Tuminez was an executive at Microsoft, where she led corporate, external, and legal affairs in Southeast Asia. She also served as vice dean of research at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. She has worked in philanthropy and venture capital in New York City and is a permanent member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She is the author of Russian Nationalism Since 1856: Ideology and the Making of Foreign Policy and many other publications. She and her husband, Jeffrey S. Tolk, have three children. In her spare time, she enjoys running, dancing, and traveling.
Jeffrey S. Tolk has more than 30 years of experience in international banking, asset management, and direct investment. He began his career as a clerk for Massachusetts Supreme Court Justice John Greaney, and then worked as a corporate lawyer on Wall Street. He subsequently worked for Moody’s Investors Service in the Structured Derivatives group, where he had a significant impact on the nascent derivatives market. Following Moody’s, Tolk joined the Structured Credit group at HSBC, which transferred him to Hong Kong in 2005 as managing director and Asia head of structuring.
In 2008 Tolk moved with his family to Singapore to be a portfolio manager and head of research at a hedge fund focusing on distressed debt, special situations, and private equity in Asia. While in Singapore, Tolk also worked at Standard Bank as Asia head of institutional and corporate solutions, and at Resource Capital Markets. He was the owner of Eastgate Advisors Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based consulting and advisory firm, and is currently an active angel investor in the dynamic startup economy in Utah. Tolk has taught finance as an adjunct professor at Utah Valley University and is an outstanding supporter of all things UVU.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, a law degree from Harvard Law School, and is a CFA charterholder. He is an avid trekker and mountain climber, having summitted Mt. Kilimanjaro (Tanzania), Mt. Whitney (USA), Mt. Kinabalu (Malaysia), Mera Peak (Nepal), Ojos del Salado high camp (Chile), and most recently, Thorong La Pass on the Annapurna Circuit (Nepal).
