Matthew Holland, UVU a good match

OREM — The morning light pours into the corner office, spilling across the considerable pile of "to-do" items on Matthew Holland's desk, lighting up his collection of books — mostly about American history — and pooling around the little glass bowl of frosted pink cookies he keeps for visitors. The man himself is sitting back in his big, leather chair, taking an uncharacteristic moment of pause to drink in the picturesque scene in front of him: Utah Valley University, nestled serenely among the state's famous mountains.

"I truly love this valley," said Holland, a tall man with broad shoulders and a formidable presence, as much to himself as to the reporter who's charged with documenting his daily interactions. To put it simply, he continued, that's why, one year ago, he accepted the position of president at UVU.

Since then, he admits, life has been crazy. As the head of Utah's fastest-growing university, Holland is under a lot of pressure to perform. He starts his days at 6 a.m., sifting through e-mails in his home office, and wraps it up — more often than not — at an event somewhere on campus around 9 p.m. And it's not just the university that's vying for his time. Holland, the son of LDS apostle Elder Jeffery R. Holland and the father of four children under the age of 13, is a dedicated church and family man. He sits on numerous community boards, including the Deseret News Editorial Advisory Board.

Though those who work with him now call him the "consummate university administrator," there was some question, when Holland was hired in July of 2009, as to whether or not the humble political science professor from Brigham Young University was cut out to be a university president. He didn't have any experience in administration and UVU was at a critical point in its development, said Val Hale, vice president of university relations. Formerly a trade- school- turned-community- college, UVU hadn't even been operating at university status for a full calendar year.

"What he did have was potential," Hale said, adding that, since his hire date, Holland has "performed like a seasoned veteran."

Holland himself admits that becoming the president of a major university was not only "not in the plan," but, until friends pressured him to apply, had never crossed his mind. He's never been the kind of person, though, to turn down a challenge.