John Ashton BS’66 JD’69

John Ashton served as executive director of the U’s Office of Alumni Relations (formerly Alumni Association) for nearly 30 years. During this time, he helped establish Continuum magazine and has since served as executive editor. He founded the alumni scholarship program and started the annual food drive. Previously, John served as president of the Alumni Association and as a member of the university’s board of trustees. He was a member of the National Advisory Council and the Hinckley Institute of Politics Advisory Board, trustee of the University Hospital Board, chair of the national Council of Alumni Association Executives, and honorary member of Beehive Honor Society. John was a partner at the Ray, Quinney & Nebeker law firm. He was also chair of the Young Lawyers Section of Utah State Bar, secretary of the Utah Republican Party, president of the Business Industry Community Education Partnership, vice chair of the Utah Hospital Association, and chair of the Salt Lake Rotary Club’s Foundation and Scholarship committee.

Rev. France Davis MA’78

Rev. France Davis was ordained at Center Street Baptist Church in Oakland where he became an associate and youth minister. In 1972 in Salt Lake, France joined Calvary Baptist Church and served as pastor and chief administrator. During the 1960s, France participated in the Civil Rights Movement and marched from Selma to Montgomery promoting voting rights for African Americans. He met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and received his spiritual calling into the ministry. In 1972, France was confronted by his minority status when he was removed from Brigham Young University’s campus for wearing an afro. He helped declare Martin Luther King Jr. Day as an official holiday nationally. France served as secretary of the Salt Lake Ministerial Association; a member of the South Africa Preaching Team for the National Baptist Convention's Foreign Mission; and as an advisor, vice president, and assistant to the dean of the Intermountain General Baptist Convention. He also taught as an adjunct associate professor in the U’s Department of Communications and has written several publications.

Lisa Eccles BA’86

Lisa Eccles is president, COO, and a board member of the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation. Lisa oversees the Foundation’s grantmaking program that has awarded nearly $800 million to various areas. Lisa is a director of the Spencer F. and Cleone P. Eccles Family Foundation and the Eccles family-owned hotel, the Goldener Hirsch. She is a board member of the National Park Foundation and has served on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s National Trust Council. She has also served on the boards of the Utah Symphony | Utah Opera, Preservation Utah, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Salt Lake County Center for the Arts, and Intermountain Healthcare’s Community Care Foundation. At the U, Lisa was a member of the Board of Trustees—including chairing its Campus Master Plan Committee—and serving on its National Advisory Council and capital campaign steering committee. In 2024, Lisa was named one of Utah’s Most Influential Women by Utah Business Magazine. She also received a Sundance Institute Women’s Leadership Award in 2019.

Cecelia Foxley MA’65 PhD’68

Cece Foxley dedicated her career to higher education. She served for over 10 years as commissioner of the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) and chief executive officer to the State Board of Regents, the first and only woman to hold these positions. She was the first-ever director of the Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Program at the University of Iowa. Cece was active in the State Higher Education Executive Officers, where she served as president for a year. She also served as a commissioner of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education and the Education Commission of the States. After her work with USHE, Cece completed a three-year Regents Professorship in the U’s Department of Educational Psychology. Cece has been a consultant to a variety of education, business, civic, and government organizations and agencies. She authored or co-authored six books and several journal articles on topics such as educational leadership and administration and non-sexist counseling. She also served on the United Way of Salt Lake City Board of Directors.

Ambassador John Price BS’56 & Marcia Price BA’57

John Price established John Price Associates, which eventually became JP Realty, Inc. and merged with General Growth Properties, Inc. In 1975, John’s company was construction manager of Symphony Hall (now Abravanel Hall), the adjacent Arts Center, and the restoration of the Capitol Theatre. John delivered all projects on time and under budget, and he and Marcia donated the remaining funds to support the arts. From 2002–05, John served as U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Mauritius, the Republic of Seychelles, and the Union of the Comoros. He also served on the U’s Board of Trustees, 2002 Winter Olympics Management Committee, and was a member of State of Utah Business and Economic Development.

A fourth-generation Utahn, Marcia Price served as president and founder of Retrospectives, Inc. and MGS Artforms, LLC. A longtime advocate of the arts, Marcia served in such positions as chair of the Utah Arts Council Board and the University of Utah Museum of Fine Arts Board, board member of the Utah Symphony and Opera, and member of the Kennedy Center National Committee for the Performing Arts. Additionally, Marcia served on the Zoo, Arts, and Parks Tax Board, where her involvement and understanding of every aspect of the program supported its passage in 1996. In 2006, Marcia received her Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from the U.

The couple served on a CARE and UNICEF fact-finding mission in Africa and later established the John and Marcia Price Family Foundation in 1998. Their giving focuses on higher education, the arts, school classrooms in Africa, and refugee services. They recently supported the U in the construction of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts building, theatre arts building, and future computing and engineering building. They are longtime scholarship donors of the university’s Master of Real Estate and Development program and the Hinckley Institute of Politics, and they funded the creation of the S.J. Quinney Refugee Law Clinic. John and Marcia have enjoyed 67 years of marriage and friendship and are proud parents of four children, eight grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.