Hope Eccles has a passionate commitment to education and educational reform. Her long-standing advocacy for higher education, in particular, arises from her recognition of a college degree’s transformative power to shape career and life success.

Eccles received a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from Stanford University and a juris doctorate from the U’s S.J. Quinney College of Law. She also received an MBA, with an emphasis in finance, from Columbia University Business School.

She was a judicial clerk to the Honorable Stephen H. Anderson of the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit and began her legal career as an associate in the New York law firm of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker.

Eccles has filled many roles in her efforts to improve education in Utah. She served as the co-chair of former Gov. Jon M. Huntsman’s Transition Committee on Education and as his Deputy for Higher Education from 2004-05. She is also the co-chair of Envision Utah’s “My Education, Our Future” committee.

Eccles currently serves on University of Utah Health’s Community Board of Directors as well as on its Budget and Finance Committee, and she is actively involved in the search for University of Utah Hospital’s next CEO. She also served on the university’s Board of Trustees for nine years, including in the capacity of vice chair, as a member of the executive committee and as chair of the audit committee. She has been a member of the S.J. Quinney College of Law’s Alumni Association, including participating for six years on its board of directors, since 1994.

Her service to the University of Utah is extraordinary given that she filled these volunteer responsibilities for a number of years while commuting from Washington, D.C., where she and her family were living.

During her years as a trustee, Eccles was instrumental in creating momentum around student support, specifically in helping create the Eccles Scholars program in the Honors College.

Eccles serves on the boards of the Marriner S. Eccles Foundation and the Spencer F. & Cleone P. Eccles Family Foundation, on the Advisory Committee of the George S. & Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, and is the manager of many of the family’s businesses. Her professional experience also includes serving on the advisory board for The Cynosure Group and as the co-owner and president of the Goldener Hirsch Inn, located at Deer Valley Resort, where she oversees all aspects of its operations, including a recent $100 million expansion. She also is the past chair of the C. Comstock Clayton Foundation board.

Her community engagement includes serving on the advisory council of Stanford University’s Bill Lane Center for the American West and membership in the Junior League of Salt Lake City.

She previously served on the boards of the National History Museum of Utah, Tracy Aviary, Kimball Art Museum, the Governor’s Mansion Foundation, Legal Aid Society of Salt Lake, SkiUtah, and TreeUtah. In addition to service in Utah, Eccles was a member of the boards of Beauvoir School, St. Albans School, and the Septima Clark Public Charter School, all located in Washington, D.C.

Eccles and her husband, Randal Quarles, are the parents of three children.