Ken Starr became the 14th president of Baylor University in June 2010. Before coming to Waco, he was the dean and a professor of law at Pepperdine University, where he taught current constitutional issues and civil procedure.

Starr has argued 36 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including 25 cases during his tenure as solicitor general of the United States from 1989-93. He also served as U.S. judge for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1983 to 1989, as law clerk to Chief Justice Warren Burger from 1975-77 and as law clerk to U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge David W. Dyer from 1973 to 1974.

This event was recorded before a live audience in Austin on April 29, 2013. Our TribLive events feature discussions with our honored guests followed by questions from the audience. For more information on Tribune events, please visit http://www.texastribune.org/events/.

Texas colleges, universities and public schools could see more firearm-carrying students or authorities under two gun rights expansion bills that got preliminary approval in the House on Saturday. 

Full video of my 4/29 TribLive conversation with Baylor University President Ken Starr. 

Voters asked lawmakers to cut down on the high-stakes standardized tests in schools and to replace some of the budget cuts made in 2011. Will they soon be asking why lawmakers made it easier to get a high school diploma?

In an exclusive interview with Texas Monthly, controversial University of Texas System Regent Wallace Hall acknowledged that he did not recognize the need for ongoing communication with the Legislature.

The University of Texas System regents voted unanimously Thursday to turn over documents to state legislators that they had considered withholding and to have the attorney general conduct a review of the University of Texas Law School Foundation.

Francisco Cigarroa, chancellor of The University of Texas System, and John Sharp, chancellor of The Texas A&M University System, join Evan Smith, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Texas Tribune, in a conversation about higher education and the future of Texas' largest two university systems. 

This event was recorded before a live audience in Austin on March 28, 2013. TribLives feature moderated discussion with our honored guests followed by questions from the audience. For more information on Tribune events, please visit http://www.texastribune.org/events/.

When the drama surrounding recent decisions by the University of Texas System regents dominates the conversation about higher education, the truly critical issues facing our students and their families are left unexamined.

Full video of my 3/28 TribLive conversation with University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa and Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp. 

At Thursday's TribLive conversation, University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa discussed the roiling conflict between the Board of Regents and UT-Austin President Bill Powers.

Texas outspends every state in the nation on testing and leads in the number of tests it requires students to pass to graduate from high school. But that has not translated to a lead in students' education performance.

After 25 years at the helm of the University of Texas at El Paso, Diana Natalicio sees no end to her work in sight. Instead, she has recently taken on a bigger role in the national conversation about higher education.

In an effort to prevent the perception of conflicts of interest, faculty in the University of Texas System could soon be subject to more robust public disclosure requirements than lawmakers and even university system regents.

The University of Texas at Austin on Wednesday announced $5 million worth of new financial aid programs specifically designed to help boost the institution's four-year graduation rates.

In his seventh State of the State address, Gov. Rick Perry ignored controversial issues and urged state lawmakers to do the nitty gritty work of government: fund water projects, build more roads and improve education.

Batheja on growing calls for infrastructure spending, Dehn and Rocha report on voters’ legislative wishes, Murphy counts noses in the new Legislature, KUT’s Philpott sniffs out a push for tax relief, M. Smith tracks House Speaker Joe Straus after his re-election, Kalifa’s lovely time-lapse look at the Legislature’s first day, Aaronson on the Medicaid expansion, Aguilar on hopes for immigration reform, Grissom on the tribulations of Kerry Max Cook, Hamilton looks into a college curriculum battle, and E. Smith’s TribLive interview with Michael Williams: The best of our best for the week of Jan. 7, 2013.

The regents of the University of North Texas System fired Dr. Scott Ransom, the president of the UNT Health Science Center, at a Friday meeting called expressly for that purpose.

Texas Tech University professor James Wetherbe has filed a federal suit against the university, claiming that administrators there have stifled his career advancement because he publicly opposes tenure.