John Zerwas sole finalist for UT System chancellor; Jim Davis lone candidate for UT-Austin president

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The University of Texas System Board of Regents named former Texas Republican lawmaker John Zerwas the sole finalist for the position of chancellor during a brief telephone meeting Monday.

They also named interim University of Texas at Austin President Jim Davis as a sole finalist for that job.

Rather than do a national search, regents said they would create a committee of faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members, along with the presidents of two other UT System schools, to offer the board advice and an evaluation of Davis.

“We're extremely excited about the process for these two gentlemen,” said Board Chair Kevin P. Eltife. “We think they'll do an outstanding job for UT System and the flagship, and we look forward to working with them.”

State law requires the board to wait 21 days before voting to confirm the appointments.

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.

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.

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.

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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