UT System names John Zerwas as chancellor, Jim Davis as UT-Austin president

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The University of Texas System Board of Regents voted Wednesday to name former Texas Republican lawmaker John Zerwas the system's next chancellor.

They also named Jim Davis, who has served as interim president of the University of Texas at Austin since February, as the flagship's next permanent president.

The board named both men sole finalists for their respective positions last month.

Rather than do a national search for candidates for UT-Austin president, Board Chair Kevin Eltife appointed members to a committee to evaluate Davis and provide feedback to Eltife. While Eltife appointed faculty, staff and students to the committee, the committee's most prominent members were influential alumni and donors like Bob Rowling, Pam Willeford and Kenny Jastrow.

Rowling, Willeford and Jastrow all graduated from UT-Austin between the late 1960s and early 1970s. Rowling, a billionaire businessman, major GOP donor and former UT regent, chaired the committee. Willeford, a Bush-era U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, is a philanthropist. Jastrow, a former Fortune 500 CEO, has led UT's fundraising campaigns.

Eltife said on Wednesday that the committee unanimously recommended Davis' hiring.

The UT System is undergoing a major leadership shake-up at a time of heightened political scrutiny of higher education. This year’s legislative session saw the passage of laws limiting faculty’s influence over curricula and hiring as well as restricting on-campus free speech.

Chancellor JB Milliken announced in May he was leaving to become president of the University of California. His departure prompted the appointment of Zerwas, then the system’s executive vice chancellor for health affairs, to take over the role.

Zerwas, who is a doctor, represented Fort Bend County in the Texas House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019. He spent part of that time as chair of the House Higher Education Committee. Zerwas thanked the board for the opportunity and its confidence in him on Wednesday.

"It is certainly something I never saw in my career happening, but I couldn't be happier to be part of this organization and the future that we all see," Zerwas said. "This is the premier public university in the state of Texas, and it will define what the future of higher ed looks like."

The University of Texas System enrolls more than 256,000 students at its academic and health institutions across the state and has an annual operating budget of $30.9 billion, making it one of the largest public university systems in the U.S.

In January, UT-Austin President Jay Hartzell announced he was leaving to become the president of Southern Methodist University, a smaller, private university in Dallas.

Hartzell started his presidency helping the flagship navigate the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and ended it struggling to appease both conservative critics and the university community. Specifically, students and staff criticized the university for overcomplying with the state’s diversity, equity and inclusion ban. Meanwhile, his 2024 request for armed state troopers to respond to peaceful pro-Palestinian demonstrations, labeled “antisemitic” by Gov. Greg Abbott, further divided the campus.

Although Hartzell had offered to remain in the role during the transition, UT System leaders opted not to retain him, instead appointing Davis, the university’s chief operating officer, as interim president, at a salary of $977,500 a year.

Davis, who previously worked for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and has no prior teaching experience, has been an active interim president, consulting with the UT System’s board of regents on the recent hiring of a provost. He selected William Inboden for the role, who is the director of the GOP-backed civics center at the University of Florida.

In a statement provided to The Texas Tribune after the vote, Rowling, who chaired the committee to evaluated Davis' candidacy, called him "a steady, principled leader."

"Higher education is at a crossroads in our country, and President Davis has the institutional knowledge, business acumen and deep care for the students, faculty, staff and alumni to continue our growth. He also has the courage to make changes where change is needed," Rowling wrote.

On Wednesday, the UT System's board also made Taylor Eighmy the permanent president of UT San Antonio and UT Health San Antonio, which are set to merge on Sept. 1. Eighmy, who has served as UTSA's president since 2017 and was appointed acting president of UT Health San Antonio in January, has overseen growth at UTSA, including in its research portfolio and status. UTSA obtained Carnegie R1 research status in 2022.

Other public university systems in Texas have also undergone leadership changes in recent months. After longtime Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp stepped down, former State Comptroller Glenn Hegar assumed the role on July 1. Texas Tech University System Chancellor Tedd Mitchell also announced his retirement this month.

The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.

Disclosure: Southern Methodist University, Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University, Texas Tech University System, Texas A&M University System, University of Texas at Austin and University of Texas System have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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