Michael O. Leavitt, Utah’s 14th and the nation’s longest-serving governor, has led the state through more than a decade of unparalleled prosperity. The hallmarks of his service are visionary leadership and sound management that have positioned Utah to prosper in the 21st Century.

Six times during his administration, independent public policy analysts have ranked Utah among the best-managed states in the nation, including the most recent ranking in a June 2003 front-page analysis by USA Today. During Gov. Leavitt’s service, taxes have been reduced 28 times for a cumulative tax reduction of $1.8 billion. At the same time, Utah doubled its investment in education and expanded its infrastructure, including reconstructing Interstate 15 – ahead of schedule and under budget – through the heart of Utah’s metropolitan center.

During the Leavitt years, the air and water are cleaner and critical lands are better protected. Communities are safer, with Utah crime rates falling 25% during his service. Health care is more affordable, and 400,000 more Utahns now have health insurance. Utah’s reputation in the world was enhanced by the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. One in every four jobs in Utah was created, as the state experienced its longest sustained economic expansion.

As a guardian of education, Leavitt has made education the highest funding priority of state government, improved choice and accountability in public schools, reduced class size, and is leading the nation’s first statewide transition to competency-measured learning. In higher education, he has championed access, increased the number of engineers, computer scientists and math students, and helped found the Western Governors University, the nation’s only online, competency-measured university with national and regional accreditation.

As a pioneer of collaborative environmental management, Gov. Leavitt co-authored with former Governor John Kitzhaber, D-Or, a balanced environmental philosophy known as Enlibra. Enlibra is derived from Latin roots and means “moving toward balance.” The philosophy has been adopted by the National Governors Association and is being used by federal, state, local and private entities to accelerate environmental progress.

Born February 11, 1951, in Cedar City, Utah, Leavitt graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics and business from Southern Utah University. After earning his degree, he eventually became president and chief executive officer of the Leavitt Group, a regional insurance firm, establishing it as one of the top insurance brokers in America. He is married to First Lady Jacalyn S. Leavitt; they are the parents of five children.

He is the former chair of the National Governors Association, Western Governors Association, Republican Governors Association and Council of State Governments. Before being elected governor of Utah in 1992, he served as an outside director of two large public corporations and was a member of the Utah State Board of Regents, overseeing the state’s nine colleges and universities.

Leavitt embodies the hopes, dreams, and beliefs of Utah, a youthful, energetic state with great promise. Asked once by a reporter how he would like people to remember him and the Leavitt years, he replied: “I’d like them to say that I fulfilled our obligation to future generations, that there was never a question that I was looking after Utah’s best interest, and that I left the state better than I found it.”