Stan LeRoy Albrecht was the fifteenth president of Utah State University (USU) from 2005 to 2016. At the time he was appointed president, he was serving as executive vice president and provost of USU. Under his tenure, USU experienced significant growth; his leadership was marked by a commitment to enhance educational opportunities and foster a sense of community.
Born and raised in Wayne County, Utah, Albrecht pursued his undergraduate degree at Southern Utah University before transferring to Brigham Young University. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1966, he completed a master’s degree and a doctorate in sociology at Washington State University in 1968 and 1970, respectively.
Beginning with his first teaching job as an assistant professor of sociology at USU in 1970, Albrecht worked for only a couple of years in Logan before becoming faculty at BYU. He stayed at BYU for over 20 years, first as a professor then later as department head, dean, and academic vice president and associate provost.
After leaving BYU, Albrecht became associate director of the epidemiological research center at the University of Florida College of Medicine. Then, in 1998, he returned to Utah and became dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at USU.
In 2012, honoring Albrecht’s tenure as president, USU named its agricultural sciences building the Stan L. Albrecht Agricultural Sciences Building.
