Texas A&M Board of Regents names Glenn Hegar as university system’s next leader

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Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar will be the next chancellor of the Texas A&M University System, overseeing 11 universities that educate more than 157,000 students and eight state agencies, including the Texas Division of Emergency Management.

The Board of Regents selected Hegar as sole finalist on March 7 to succeed Chancellor John Sharp, who has held the job since 2011 and is slated to retire in June. The vote was unanimous. State law requires the board wait 21 days before voting to confirm such an appointment, which the board did unanimously on Friday.

Hegar is inheriting the system’s reins at an inflection point as Republican leaders scrutinize what they see as progressive policies and curriculum in higher education. He’ll have to contend with continued accusations that public universities are violating the state’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion policies, and navigate intensifying threats to academic freedom.

“The board is confident that Glenn Hegar is ready to usher in the next era of excellence at The Texas A&M University System,” Board Chair Bill Mahomes wrote in a March 7 statement. “Hegar grasps the unique breadth and depth of the System’s impact on every corner of Texas through its eight state agencies and 11 universities. We, as members of the Board of Regents, are eager to see what he will accomplish.”

In a statement of his own, Hegar thanked the regents for their confidence.

"Texas A&M will remain focused on our core values, increasing and improving student experiences, and expanding economic opportunities and services across our system and our state," he said,."Gig 'em!"

Hegar, a Republican from Katy, was first elected comptroller in 2014. He previously served as a state representative and then as a state senator, from 2003 to 2014.

The comptroller serves as the state’s chief financial officer, accountant, revenue estimator and treasurer.

As comptroller, Hegar has brought attention to problems that have plagued other states like infrastructure maintenance and state employee pensions. He worked with the Texas Legislature to pay down pension debt. He also helped create the first state-administered precious metals depository and the Texas Bullion Depository.

The Texas Broadband Development Office and the settlement funds from a lawsuit stemming from the opioid crisis are under the comptroller’s purview. If a school voucher proposal to let families use public funds for their children’s private schooling passes this session, the office could also be responsible for overseeing how the program works.

Hegar infused some conservative politicking into the role when he ran for reelection in 2022 as “a true conservative defending the values of faith, family and freedom.” At the time, his office released a list of financial companies that Hegar said were anti-oil and gas. He also threatened to sanction Harris County for cutting its budget for law enforcement.

In the Legislature, Hegar chaired the Sunset Advisory Commission and has said he eliminated inefficiencies in government and abolished six state agencies, saving taxpayers more than $160 million.

During his last session in the Senate, he chaired the finance subcommittee on state and local revenue matters and has said he helped cut $1 billion worth of taxes.

That year he also sponsored a bill in 2013 that placed additional restrictions on abortion before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. (That bill was the one that launched Democrat Wendy Davis into fame for her 11-hour filibuster). He also authored a bill that allowed students with concealed handgun licenses to store firearms in their vehicles on campus. Now, Texans don’t have to have a concealed handgun license to carry.

Hegar is himself an Aggie, graduating from Texas A&M University in 1993. He later got his master’s and law degrees from St. Mary’s University, a private school in San Antonio, and a master of laws degree from the University of Arkansas.

He has three children with his wife, Dara, who also earned a bachelor's degree at Texas A&M. She is an attorney at the Lanier Law Firm and was the 2022 chair of the Association of Former Students of Texas A&M University.

Texas A&M University System Board of Regents also considered other candidates for chancellor, according to a source familiar with the process: Texas A&M Foundation President Tyson Voelkel; University of Alabama President Stuart Bell; State Rep. Trent Ashby, R-Lufkin; and U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin. A second source confirmed four of the five names. Regents met all day on Feb. 24 in Houston to interview the candidates, mostly behind closed doors.

"The board members were pleased to see its search for chancellor yield so much interest and so many qualified candidates. We thank everyone who was involved in this extensive search and selection process," Mahomes added on March 7.

Hegar’s political trajectory is similar to Sharp’s, who also served as comptroller before he became chancellor in 2011.

Sharp, who ran as a Democrat, also served stints as a state representative, state senator and railroad commissioner. As chancellor, he ushered in an era of prosperity for the system while navigating the changing environment in higher education as campuses became increasingly polarized.

He secured an all-time high of $1 billion in new funding for the system during the same session lawmakers banned diversity, equity and inclusion offices, programs and training and threatened to eliminate tenure. He is credited with proposing that lawmakers codify the practice instead. Tenure, which offers faculty employment and academic freedom protections, has been instrumental in the state’s rise in the ranks of research.

Sharp congratulated Hegar when he became sole finalist and noted their similar careers in public service, pointing out that they had even represented the same district in the Texas Senate.

"He became comptroller of public accounts several years after I held the office. Now, he is set to take over as chancellor of the Texas A&M University System. Seems like destiny to me!" Sharp said.

Earlier this year, Gov. Greg Abbott said Texas A&M University President Mark Welsh III should lose his job if he continued allowing faculty to recruit doctoral students at a conference that limited participation to people who are Black, Hispanic or Native American. Welsh was named president after his predecessor, Katherine Banks, resigned over the botched hiring of Kathleen McElroy, a Black journalism professor who some of the university system’s regents worried had a liberal bias. The university also came under fire at that time from faculty and alumni after The Texas Tribune reported a professor was suspended with pay after she was accused by a politically connected student of criticizing Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick during a lecture.

Abbott, Patrick and other conservatives have criticized professors for pushing "woke agendas." Several bills filed this legislative session would limit faculty's input on curriculum and hiring, challenging longstanding higher education practices.

"I wish Mr. Hegar the best in this very important position," said Danny Braaten, secretary of the Texas A&M-San Antonio Chapter of the American Association of University Professors, said after Hegar was named sole finalist. "I hope he remembers that faculty working conditions are student learning conditions and I also hope he remembers to center academic freedom and shared governance in all his decisions as those are the principles that have made the American system of higher education the envy of the world."

Leonard Bright, vice president of the Texas A&M University-College Station Chapter of AAUP, said he was concerned by Hegar's association with lawmakers who he believed were trying to reshape higher education without fully understanding how it works. Bright said he hopes Hegar is open to learning and hearing faculty's point of view like Sharp did. Neither Sharp nor Hegar had backgrounds in academia.

"We're in a tough environment and now we're going to have someone who is basically going to have to learn on their feet," said Bright, who has taught at the university for 14 years. "I hope he can rise above his politics and protect us because that's what it is going to take."

Abbott can appoint a comptroller who would serve until the next general election in 2026.

Disclosure: Texas A&M Foundation, Texas A&M University and Texas A&M University 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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