The governor has tapped a former U.S. senator and a prominent Arizona businesswoman to join the state universities’ governing board.
Gov. Janet Napolitano announced Monday that she’s nominated Dennis DeConcini and Anne Mariucci for the Arizona Board of Regents. The board sets policies, tuition, and guides the universities in their missions.
DeConcini, a three-term Democratic senator from Tucson, ended his tenure in 1995. While in Congress, DeConcini served on the Senate Appropriations Committee where he worked to provide Arizona’s universities with money for research. He works at a law firm he cofounded in Washington, D.C., in 1968: DeConcini, McDonald, Yetwin & Lacy. DeConcini earned a bachelor of arts from the University of Arizona in 1959 and a law degree in 1963.
"My real interest here is to promote the university, which I think is the leading economic driver for the state of Arizona and for its high-tech economy," DeConcini said.
Mariucci is a former partowner of the Phoenix Mercury and former president of homebuilder Del Webb Corp. She’s a Republican who grew up in Omaha, Neb. She graduated from UA in 1978 with a bachelor’s in finance and accounting, and was a golf and basketball player for the Wildcats. She now is a director for the ASU Foundation, Arizona State Retirement System, and Scottsdale Healthcare.
"The opportunity to influence and shape the (educational) aspect of our future is compelling," Mariucci said.
The 12 members of the Board of Regents serve staggered eight-year terms.
If confirmed by the Arizona Senate, Mariucci and DeConcini would succeed regents Jack Jewett and Chris Herstam, who finished their terms.
