The University of Silicon Valley (USV), formerly known as Cogswell College, announced today that Dr. Mark Naufel has been appointed President. Naufel becomes the youngest serving university president in the country, bringing a blend of entrepreneurial experience and academic leadership to one of Silicon Valley’s oldest institutions of education and innovation.

Founded in 1887 as the first polytechnic school west of the Mississippi, USV has a long tradition of aligning education with the evolving needs of industry. Under Naufel’s leadership, the university aims to build on that legacy with a bold new vision: forming polymathic learners who unite art, technology, and entrepreneurship to create works of real consequence.

“Higher education has reached an inflection point,” Naufel said. “It takes too long, costs too much, and prepares too few for the realities of a world that changes faster than ever before. USV has the ability and the spirit to do something different—we’re building a university that will move at the speed of ambition and put the learner back where they belong: at the center.”

Scott McKinley, Chairman of the USV Board of Trustees, described Naufel as “exactly the kind of leader higher education needs right now—entrepreneurial, inventive, and grounded in real-world impact.” He added, “With Mark’s leadership, USV is poised to become a living laboratory for the future of learning—where students, faculty, and industry collaborate to solve real problems in real time.”

Naufel, who previously founded the edtech company Axio and The Luminosity Lab at Arizona State University, has worked at the intersection of technology, learning, and social impact. A former member of the Arizona Board of Regents, he helped govern three of the nation’s largest public universities, bringing a systems-level perspective to educational transformation. “USV has a long-standing pedigree at the intersection of technology and innovation,” Naufel said. “Our responsibility now is to ensure that technology continues to serve and augment creativity, curiosity, and the human spirit.”

About the University of Silicon Valley
The University of Silicon Valley (USV) is redefining what higher education can be—forming 21st-century Renaissance minds who master both craft and moral character, uniting liberal and technical arts to create meaningful impact. Founded in 1887, USV carries forward its legacy as a catalyst for innovation in art, design, technology, and business—preparing learners not just for work, but for a world that never stops changing.