President of the University of Texas at Austin | |
---|---|
University of Texas at Austin | |
Inaugural holder | Leslie Waggener |
Formation | 1895 |
Salary | US$1,250,000 (2020) [2] |
Website | president.utexas.edu |
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) is a public university in Austin, Texas, and the flagship university of the University of Texas System. The university has been led by 30 presidents since the office of the president was founded in 1895. The current president is Jay Hartzell, who has served in the position since 2020.
The position did not exist when UT Austin was established in 1883. Its founders followed the system established at the University of Virginia and gave control to the faculty, under a board of regents, through a chairman of their choosing. John William Mallet served as the first chairman of the faculty for most of the 1883–1884 academic year, with William Leroy Broun serving briefly at the end of the year. Leslie Waggener received the position in 1884 and served for ten years; Thomas Scott Miller took the role in 1894. By 1895, due to the need for a full-time executive, Waggener became the university's first president on an interim basis. [3] [4] [5] [6]
Many presidents early in the university's history had relatively short tenures. [7] Tensions with the Board of Regents led to the removals of Homer P. Rainey in 1944 and Stephen H. Spurr in 1974; Rainey's firing over academic freedom and interference from regents particularly harmed the university's reputation for several years after and earned censure from the American Association of University Professors. [8] [9] [10] In 1950, a separate chancellor position for the University of Texas System was established; that office assumed the responsibilities of the UT Austin president from 1963 to 1967. [3] [5]
Harry Yandell Benedict is the longest-serving president, as well as the first UT Austin alumnus to become president. [11] Lorene Rogers became the university's first female president and has been called the first woman to lead a major state university. [12] Peter T. Flawn served two separate terms as president, the only individual to do so. [13] Several buildings on the UT Austin campus are named for past presidents, including Battle, Benedict, Calhoun, Mezes, Rainey, Painter, and Waggener Halls; the Larry R. Faulkner Nano Science and Technology Building; the Peter T. Flawn Academic Center; the Norman Hackerman Building; the William C. Powers Student Activity Center; and the Harry Ransom Center. [14]
No. | Name | Term start [lower-alpha 1] | Term end [lower-alpha 1] | Notes [lower-alpha 2] | Ref. |
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1 | Leslie Waggener | September 7, 1895 | June 30, 1896 | Interim president; president of Bethel College (1877–1883); [16] chairman of the faculty (1884–1894) [5] | [17] [18] |
2 | George Tayloe Winston | July 1, 1896 | September 15, 1899 | President of the University of North Carolina (1891–1896); [19] president of North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (1899–1908) [20] | [21] [22] |
3 | William Lambdin Prather | November 4, 1899 | July 24, 1905 | President of the Texas Bar Association (1895–1896); [23] chairman of the Board of Regents (1899–1900) [24] | [25] [26] |
4 | David Franklin Houston | September 1, 1905 | September 1, 1908 | President of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (1902–1905); [27] chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis (1908–1913); [27] United States Secretary of Agriculture (1913–1920); [28] United States Secretary of the Treasury (1920–1921) [28] | [29] [30] |
5 | Sidney Edward Mezes | September 1, 1908 | December 15, 1914 | Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (1902–1908); [31] president of the College of the City of New York (1914–1927) [31] | [32] [33] |
6 | William James Battle | November 16, 1914 | June 30, 1916 | Acting president; dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (1908–1911); [34] dean of the faculty (1911–1917) [34] | [35] [36] |
7 | Robert Ernest Vinson | July 1, 1916 | June 30, 1923 | President of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary (1908–1916); [37] president of Western Reserve University (1923–1933) [37] | [38] [39] |
8 | William Seneca Sutton | July 1, 1923 | July 31, 1924 | Interim president; dean of the School of Education (1909–1926) [40] | [41] [42] |
9 | Walter Marshall William Splawn | August 1, 1924 | September 1, 1927 | Dean of the American University Graduate School (1929–1934); [43] member of the Interstate Commerce Commission (1934–1953) [44] | [45] [46] |
10 | Harry Yandell Benedict | September 1, 1927 | May 10, 1937 | Earned BS and MA from the university (1892, 1893); [47] dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (1911–1927) [47] | [48] [49] |
11 | John William Calhoun | June 1, 1937 | May 31, 1939 | Interim president; earned BA from the university (1905); [50] comptroller (1925–1940) [50] | [51] [52] |
12 | Homer Price Rainey | June 1, 1939 | November 1, 1944 | President of Franklin College (1927–1931); [53] president of Bucknell University (1931–1935); [53] president of Stephens College (1947–1952); [54] fired by the Board of Regents [53] | [55] [56] |
13 | Theophilus Shickel Painter | November 2, 1944 | August 31, 1952 | Acting president from November 1944 to May 1946; acting chancellor of the University of Texas System (1950) [57] | [58] [59] |
14 | James Clay Dolley | September 1, 1952 | January 31, 1953 | Acting president; vice president (1945–1953); [60] vice chancellor for fiscal affairs of the University of Texas System (1955–1966) [61] | [62] [63] |
15 | Logan Wilson | February 1, 1953 | August 31, 1960 | Earned MA from the university (1927); [64] dean of Newcomb College at Tulane University (1944–1951); [65] vice president and provost of the Consolidated University of North Carolina (1951–1953); [65] chancellor of the University of Texas System (1954, 1960–1961); [66] president of the American Council on Education (1961–1971) [67] | [68] [69] |
16 | Harry Huntt Ransom | September 1, 1960 | May 31, 1961 | Interim president; dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (1954–1957); [70] vice president and provost (1957–1960); [70] chancellor of the University of Texas System (1961–1971) [71] | [72] [73] |
17 | Joseph Royall Smiley | June 1, 1961 | June 30, 1963 | Dean of the University of Illinois College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (1954–1958); [74] president of Texas Western College / the University of Texas at El Paso (1958–1960, 1969–1972); [75] vice president and provost (1960–1961); [76] president of the University of Colorado (1963–1969) [76] | [77] [78] |
– | — | July 1, 1963 | November 1, 1967 | Office abolished; duties assumed by chancellor Harry Ransom | [3] |
18 | Norman Hackerman | November 1, 1967 | September 1, 1970 | Acting president; vice president and provost (1961–1963); [79] vice chancellor for academic affairs (1963–1967); [79] president of Rice University (1970–1985) [79] | [80] [81] |
19 | Bryce Jordan | July 1, 1970 | July 1, 1971 | Interim president; earned BM and MM from the university (1948, 1949); [82] vice president for student affairs (1968–1970); [83] president of the University of Texas at Dallas (1971–1981); [84] president of Pennsylvania State University (1983–1990) [83] | [85] [86] |
20 | Stephen Hopkins Spurr | July 9, 1971 | September 24, 1974 | Dean of the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources (1962–1964); [87] dean of the University of Michigan Rackham Graduate School (1964–1971); [87] fired by the Board of Regents and chancellor Charles LeMaistre [8] [88] | [89] [90] |
21 | Lorene Lane Rogers | September 25, 1974 | August 31, 1979 | Interim president from September 1974 to September 1975; earned MA and PhD from the university (1946, 1948); [91] vice president (1971–1974) [92] | [93] [94] |
22 | Peter Tyrrell Flawn | September 1, 1979 | August 31, 1985 | Vice president for academic affairs (1970–1972); [95] executive vice president (1972); [96] president of the University of Texas at San Antonio (1973–1977) [95] | [97] [98] |
23 | William H. Cunningham | September 1, 1985 | August 31, 1992 | Dean of the College and Graduate School of Business (1983–1985); [99] chancellor of the University of Texas System (1992–2000) [99] | [100] [101] |
24 | William S. Livingston | September 1, 1992 | December 31, 1992 | Acting president; vice president and dean of Graduate Studies (1979–1995); [102] senior vice president (1995–2007) [103] | [104] [105] |
25 | Robert M. Berdahl | January 1, 1993 | June 30, 1997 | Dean of the University of Oregon College of Arts and Sciences (1981–1986); [106] chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley (1997–2004); [107] president of the Association of American Universities (2006–2011); [108] interim president of the University of Oregon (2011–2012) [109] | [110] [111] |
26 | Peter Tyrrell Flawn | July 1, 1997 | April 12, 1998 | Interim president; second term as president | [97] [98] |
27 | Larry R. Faulkner | April 13, 1998 | January 31, 2006 | Earned PhD from the university (1969); [112] dean of the University of Illinois College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (1989–1994); [112] interim chancellor of the University of Texas System (2018) [113] | [114] [115] |
28 | William C. Powers Jr. | February 1, 2006 | June 2, 2015 | Dean of the School of Law (2000–2006); [116] chair of the Association of American Universities (2013–2014) [116] | [117] [118] |
29 | Gregory L. Fenves | June 3, 2015 | May 31, 2020 | Dean of the Cockrell School of Engineering (2008–2013); [119] executive vice president and provost (2013–2015); [119] president of Emory University (2020–present) [120] | [121] [122] |
30 | Jay Hartzell | June 1, 2020 | – | Interim president from June to September 2020; earned PhD from the university (1998); [123] dean of the McCombs School of Business (2016–2020) [123] | [124] [125] |
The University of Texas at Austin is a public research university in Austin, Texas. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 52,384 students as of Fall 2022, it is also the largest institution in the system.
The University of Texas System is a public university system in the U.S. state of Texas. It includes nine universities and five independent health institutions. The UT System is headquartered in Downtown Austin. It is the largest university system in Texas with 250,000+ enrolled students, 21,000+ employed faculty, 83,000+ health care professionals, researchers and support staff. The UT System's $42.7 billion endowment is the largest of any public university system in the United States.
Bevo is the live mascot of the athletic programs at the University of Texas at Austin. Bevo is a Texas Longhorn steer with burnt orange and white coloring from which the university derived its color scheme. The profile of the Longhorn's head and horns gives rise to the school's hand symbol and saying, "Hook 'em Horns". The most recent Bevo, Bevo XV, was introduced to Texas football fans on September 4, 2016. His predecessor, Bevo XIV, died of cancer on October 16, 2015. Bevo XV is owned by Betty and John Baker's Sunrise Ranch in Liberty Hill, Texas; Sunrise Ranch also owned Bevo XV's predecessors Bevo XIII and Bevo XIV.
Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium, located in Austin, Texas, on the campus of the University of Texas, has been home to the Longhorns football team since 1924. The stadium has delivered a home field advantage with the team's home record through November 24, 2023 being 399–122–10 (.761). The official stadium seating capacity is 100,119, making the stadium the fourth largest in the Southeastern Conference, the seventh largest stadium in the United States, and the ninth largest stadium in the world.
The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, also known as the LBJ Presidential Library, is the presidential library and museum of Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th president of the United States (1963–1969). It is located on the grounds of the University of Texas at Austin, and is one of 13 presidential libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. The LBJ Library houses 45 million pages of historical documents, including the papers of President Johnson and those of his close associates and others.
William Charles Powers Jr. was an American attorney, academic, and university administrator who served as the 28th president of the University of Texas at Austin, becoming the second-longest serving president in the university's history. He held the position from February 1, 2006, to July 2, 2015, when he was succeeded by Gregory L. Fenves. Before his death, Powers held the Hines H. Baker and Thelma Kelley Baker Chair at the University of Texas School of Law.
The University of Texas at Austin was originally conceived in 1827 under an article in the Constitución de Coahuila y Texas to open a public university in the state of Texas. The Constitution of 1876 also called for the creation of a "university of the first class." Thus, they created "The University of Texas." Since the school's opening in 1883, the University of Texas has expanded greatly with the Austin institution remaining the flagship university of the University of Texas System. By the late 1990s, the university had the largest enrollment in the country and contained many of the country's top programs in the areas of law, architecture, film, engineering, and business.
The 2005 Texas Longhorns football team represented the University of Texas at Austin during the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season, winning the Big 12 Conference championship and the national championship. The team was coached by Mack Brown, led on offense by quarterback Vince Young, and played its home games at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium.
Daniel "Colt" McCoy is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Longhorns, winning several awards and honors as a senior in 2009 and ranking second all-time in games won by an FBS quarterback. McCoy was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the third round of the 2010 NFL draft and was also a member of the San Francisco 49ers, Washington Redskins, New York Giants, and Arizona Cardinals, primarily being used as a backup.
Peter T. Flawn was President of the University of Texas at Austin from 1979 to 1985. He was also a geologist and educator.
The 2007 Texas Longhorns football suspensions were separate incidents resulting in college football players being suspended from the 2007 Texas Longhorn football team at the University of Texas at Austin. Head coach Mack Brown suspended a total of seven players; six for alleged illegal activities, and one for a violation of National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) rules.
West Campus is a neighborhood in central Austin, Texas west of Guadalupe Street and its namesake, the University of Texas at Austin. Due to its proximity to the university, West Campus is heavily populated by college students.
William Harry McRaven is a retired United States Navy four-star admiral who served as the ninth commander of the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) from August 8, 2011 to August 28, 2014. From 2015 to 2018, he was the chancellor of The University of Texas System.
Texas State University (TXST) is a public research university with its main campus in San Marcos, Texas and another campus in Round Rock. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to be one of the largest universities in the United States. Texas State University reached a record enrollment of 40,678 students in the 2024 fall semester, continuing a trend of enrollment growth over several years.
The Peter T. Flawn Academic Center is an undergraduate library and "technology and collaboration" facility located on the University of Texas at Austin campus. The center, named after former university president Peter T. Flawn in 1983, opened between 1963 and 1964. Upon its opening, the building featured the first open-stack library on campus for undergraduates along with much of the Humanities Research Center.
Gregory Louis Fenves is an American engineer and academic who is the 21st president of Emory University. He previously served as the President of the University of Texas at Austin from 2015 to 2020.
Jay C. Hartzell is an American economist and the 30th President of the University of Texas at Austin. Additionally, he holds the Centennial Chair in Business Education Leadership and the Trammell Crow Regents Professor in Business at UT Austin.
Leslie Waggener Sr. was an American professor who served as the first president of the University of Texas at Austin. He also served as president of Bethel College in Kentucky.