Arizona Board of Regents Chair Fred DuVal is pursuing “all legal remedies” following questions posed by a University of Arizona faculty leader about his involvement with a former private investment company.
UA Faculty Chair Leila Hudson publicly challenged DuVal’s involvement with Amicus Investors, a private equity company focusing on higher education, in a special faculty senate meeting on Monday. Toward the end of the meeting, Hudson questioned whether DuVal’s role as managing director of the company created a conflict of interest.
DuVal says the claim is defamatory.
“Even if Amicus had pursued or landed business in Arizona – which we didn’t – it would have been impossible to have had a conflict because the two engagements never overlapped,” DuVal said Thursday. “This is obvious from a rudimentary search of corporate filings, or even my social media bio page.”
DuVal said he worked with the company from 2015 to 2017 and never completed any deals, even though the company’s website lists UA and Arizona State University as groups their team members had worked with in the past.