Members of the Walton family on Wednesday announced that David Mazyck, head of the Pennsylvania State University School of Engineering Design and Innovation, has been named inaugural president of the family’s forthcoming STEM-focused university in Bentonville.
Walmart heirs and brothers Tom and Steuart Walton announced plans for the nonprofit university last May. The university aims to “reimagine STEM education for the next generation of innovators, builders, and entrepreneurs,” the brothers said in a news release. Classes will focus on preparing students to succeed in an era shaped by artificial intelligence and rapid technological change.
The university will be located at the former site of Walmart’s corporate headquarters. It intends to welcome its first class of students in 2029.
Multiple members of the Walton family are supporting the project, including Alice Walton through the Alice L. Walton Foundation.
As inaugural president, Mazyck will oversee the planning and formation of the university. Steuart Walton said Mazyck “brings the imagination, intellectual rigor, and builder’s instinct to create something genuinely new in higher education.” At Penn State, Mazyck led a multidisciplinary academic unit dedicated to experiential, hands-on education at scale. He also served as a special adviser to the university on strategic planning, capital fundraising, budget reform, and research commercialization.
“He has consistently challenged conventional models and is uniquely qualified to lead our efforts to design programs that equip students to solve complex problems, lead with confidence, and build what comes next in an AI-driven world,” Steuart Walton said in the release. “His arrival marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter, and we’re eager to get started.”
Mazyck’s career spans more than two decades across public research universities, entrepreneurial ventures, and large-scale institutional initiatives, following service in the U.S. Army.
He holds a doctorate in environmental engineering, among other degrees, from Penn State. Mazyck also has experience founding and leading technology and manufacturing enterprises.
In a statement, Mazyck said he and the Waltons are “creating an environment where learning and execution are inseparable, where industry is embedded as a partner, and where students graduate not just prepared, but confident in their ability to build, lead, and solve real problems from day one.” He said the university will be a catalyst for regional talent, economic mobility, and long-term growth, strengthening northwest Arkansas while shaping a national model for what STEM education can become.
“I am deeply grateful to the Walton family for the opportunity to build something truly new from the ground up,” he said.
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