Powers, 72, led university for more than nine years. Former UT president in hospital after fall
Former University of Texas President Bill Powers was hospitalized Wednesday after a fall outside the School of Law, where he is a professor. Powers, 72, was taken to the Dell Seton Medical Center at UT for treatment and tests, according to university officials.
“Bill Powers is recovering at Dell Seton Medical Center from his fall,” Gary Suss- wein, a UT spokesman, said Thursday in a statement. “His family is touched by the outpouring of support and love they have received over the past day.”
UT Law School Dean Ward Farnsworth informed law fac- ulty members about Powers’ fall in an email and assured them that “he’s getting good care.”
Powers was hospitalized in 2011 with a pulmonary embolism, a sudden block- age of a lung artery. He was treated with blood thinners and recovered.
Powers led the university for more than nine years, stepping down in June 2015. He previously was dean of the School of Law.
Under his watch as pres- ident, UT overhauled the undergraduate curriculum, established the School of Undergraduate Studies and the Dell Medical School, and completed an eight-year fundraising campaign that netted $3.1 billion.
The last few years of his administration were punctuated by controversy. An investigation concluded that Powers sometimes ordered the admissions office to accept applicants with subpar academic records who had been touted by legislators, regents, donors and other influential people. Powers said he always acted in the best interests of the university.
Despite strained relations with some UT System regents and then-Gov. Rick Perry, Powers enjoyed strong support from alumni, donors, faculty members, students and the state Legislature.