Ut-austin confirmshartzell as its newpresident
The University of Texas at Austin on Wednesday named Jay Hartzell its new president.
The UT System board of regents voted unanimously to confirm Hartzell, who has served as the flagship’s interim president since June 2019 after former UT President Greg Fenves left to become president of Emory University in Atlanta. Hartzell, 50, previously served as dean of UT’S Mccombs School of Business and was the sole finalist for Ut-austin’s presidency.
Hartzell called the opportunity “the honor of a lifetime”
“This is a dream come true for me because it means that I get the chance to go to work with students, faculty, staff and alumni and put all my energy into helping Longhorn Nation do what it does best — change the world,” Hartzell said in a written statement.
UT System Chancellor James B. Milliken said he was was pleased with the board’s vote and praised
Hartzell’s dedication to the university as a student, professor and leader.
“In the short time Jay has been interim president, he has led Utaustin with a steady hand and an eye on the future,” Board Chairman Kevin P. Eltife said in a written statement. “Jay continues to demonstrate that he is a leader who can manage enormous challenges and still maintain a focus on elevating the academic, research and clinical missions of a world-class institution.”
Hartzell has already helped lead UT through several issues and initiatives this year, including the college’s strategies and response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as its diversity efforts and vow to increasingly support Black faculty and students following the death of George Floyd.
Hartzell, a UT alumnus, earned a doctorate in finance from the university in 1998 before returning as a faculty member in 2001. He has served in various capacities at UT over the past two de
cades, including as the senior associate dean for academic affairs, the executive director of the business school’s Real Estate Finance and Investment Center, and as the chair of the UT’S finance department before becoming dean in 2016.
He also established the business school’s one-year master’s of science in finance degree, the undergraduate real estate certificate program, and oversaw the fundraising construction and opening of graduate business facility Rowling Hall.