Sheila Gestring Promoted to the Presidency of the University of South Dakota

The South Dakota Board of Regents has selected Sheila Gestring as the eighteenth president of the University of South Dakota. She will take office on June 22.

The University of South Dakota in Vermillion in the southeast corner of the state, enrolls about 7,500 undergraduate students and 2,500 graduate students, according to the latest data reported to the U.S. Department of Education. Women make up 62 percent of the undergraduate student body.

Sheila Gestring currently serves as vice president of finance and chief financial officer at the University of South Dakota. She joined the finance staff at the university in 2006 and was named chief financial officer in 2010. Gestring led a successful $250 million fundraising campaign at the university that reached its goal several months in advance.

Regent Keith Schieffer, who chaired the search committee, stated that Gestring’s “track record at the University of South Dakota speaks for itself. She has excelled at every challenge give to her. She knows the university and its needs very well. She has clear goals for bringing the university to even greater prominence, and she is ready to lead us there.”

Prior to joining the staff at the University of South Dakota, Gestring was chief financial officer at Flathead Valley Community College in Montana. Gestring is a graduate of the University of Sioux Falls, where she majored in accounting and business administration. She earned an MBA at the University of South Dakota.