Keith Whitfield

Whitfield first taught in 1989 as an assistant professor at McNeese State University before teaching at Pennsylvania State University from 1993 to 2000.[6] He would briefly teach at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro before returning to Penn State in 2002.[6] He accepted a position as a research professor at Duke University in 2006 before working there exclusively come 2007.[6]

In 2011, he was appointed as the vice provost for academic affairs at Duke University.[16][17] While at Duke University, he held appointments as professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, research professor in the Department of Geriatric Medicine at Duke University Medical Center, and senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development. He also was the co-director of the Center on Biobehavioral Health Disparities Research.[18] He became provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Wayne State University in 2016 before moving on to University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2020.[19]

In his first address as president of University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Mr. Whitfield introduced Top Tier 2.0 as a roadmap for the university to improve its Carnegie R1 status.[20] During his time as president, Whitfield has shown his interest in creating additional partnerships with gaming companies for the university's research and technology park in August 2021.[21] Whitfield is also mediating between The Boring Company and their plans to build a Loop station at the school's campus.[22][23] In January 2021, Whitfield announced the university was dropping its Hey Reb! mascot after perceived ties with the Confederacy.[24][25]

On November 19, 2021, Nathan Valencia, a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at UNLV, was put into a coma after participating in rival fraternity Kappa Sigma's off-campus "Fight Night" event.[26][27] The event was meant to raise money for Center Ring Boxing in Las Vegas.[26] According to Zoë Bernard of Rolling Stone, the event had a history of injuries, as it was "known for landing participants in the ER with broken noses and concussions."[27] Valencia collapsed 60 seconds after the fight had ended, in what was later determined to be a rotational injury to the head that caused a subdural hematoma.[27] Valencia died four days later on November 23.[26] The Nevada Athletic Commission unanimously passed "Nathan's Law" in December 2021 that would enforce emergency regulations for amateur boxing events.[28]

President Whitfield responded to the incident by suspending Kappa Sigma from the campus.[29][30] Whitfield expressed his sympathies to Valencia's family and declared that the university would be "committing all available resources to review the incident and determine how off-campus events like these can be as safe as possible."[30][31] Valencia's family later sued UNLV, Kappa Sigma, and other individuals and groups in February 2022.[32]

During Whitfield's 2022 State of the University Address, he announced the launch of "Digital President Whitfield", an artificial intelligence program that Whitfield stated would allow him to be available to students 24/7.[33] In an interview with KTNV-TV, developer Russ Logan, UNLV alum and member of the AI Foundation, said that Whitfield had spent five hours recording dialogue for the program.[33]

Whitfield's first leadership position was as a fellow of Penn State University's Committee on Institutional Cooperation’s Academic Leadership Program from 2004 to 2005.[6] In 2012, he was a member of the Harvard Institute for Management and Leadership in Education.[6]

From 2016 to 2017, Whitfield was a member of the American Council on Education's Institute for new Chief Academic Officers.[6] Whitfield was also a member of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges Institute for Leadership & Governance in 2020.[6][34] Whitfield is currently a member of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities' Coalition of Urban Serving Universities.[7]