The University of Wyoming’s Board of Trustees has elected Dave True, Casper businessman and five-year trustee, as its new president of the board, effective this May, for the final year of his term as a trustee.
True has a long family history in Wyoming industries, with family members who have started businesses, sat on the board as well and created the modern Bucking Horse and Rider insignia. Since his own appointment to the board by Governor Matt Mead in 2013, he has served terms as treasurer and vice president—constantly working to establish the university’s guiding policies on a general level and with other UW officials, faculty, staff and students on more particular matters.
“Honestly, if it wasn’t for the interest and the love of the institution—well, I doubt that I would have accepted the appointment or been willing to take on the presidency,” True said. “My wife and I did graduate from UW, always have had a soft spot for the university.”
Faculty Senate Chair Michael Barker is among those who have worked alongside True and other trustees to put UW on the best course possible, most recently in the context of overhauling UW’s many regulations.
“He is a conscientious trustee with substantial board experience that cares deeply for the University of Wyoming,” Barker said.
ASUW President Ben Wetzel foresees that True’s term as president will be a good one. Wetzel is an ex-officio member of the board of trustees—though such members have no vote, they maintain a voice in board matters and the right to sit on executive sessions that are otherwise closed to the public and other observers.
“I think that trustee True’s election as the president of the board will only continue a trend of great leadership on the board,” Wetzel said. “I have no doubt that he will continue to work with President Nichols and our administration to move the university forward.”
The board of trustees is comprised of individuals from many backgrounds, described on its UW site page as “ordinary citizens”—including but not limited to members with experience in education, business, finance and the representation of important groups, such as Wyoming’s Native American tribes. True brings to the table his own extensive experience in Wyoming industry, as a partner and co-owner of numerous True-brand companies with a B.S. in business administration from UW.
True’s father, H.A. ‘Dave’ True, Jr., started things off as manager and co-owner of a one-rig drilling company, making the True companies a part of Wyoming’s economy and society since 1948. In the following years, that business survived many obstacles and went on to grow and form new partnerships—which in time became the sole domain of the True family.
Preserved on the True companies’ website is this statement from the founder: ‘I have always considered integrity and ethics to be the most important part of a business decision. Our goal has always been to make every deal on such terms and in such a manner that next week, next year or five years from now we can go back and deal with those same people again.’
From this background, True reflected on a focus toward similar values as he considered his time on the board.
“I’ve found it very interesting; I’ve found it rewarding to be working with the other trustees—most of whom I’ve not known before being on the board,” True said. “I’ve found each of them to be, certainly, strong individuals that I’ve really enjoyed getting to know. That’s sort of been, as much as anything in my opinion, the reward that I’ve gotten from this whole thing—just getting to know some really good people from around the state.”
With his year as president of the board closing out his first six-year term as a UW trustee, True considered a possible return with a second term, depending on appointments from the governor-to-be and his own inclination.
“I think there’s a lot of water to flow under the bridge before I get to that point and that decision,” True said.
