University of Texas at Austin President Jay Hartzell is leaving the UT System’s flagship school to become the next president of Southern Methodist University, he announced Tuesday.
Hartzell said in a press release that this was an opportunity “I could not pass up.”
“I look forward to building upon the university’s remarkable momentum and leading SMU into its next era,” he said.
SMU’s current president, R. Gerald Turner, will transition this summer to the role of president emeritus. He has led the university for three decades.
Hartzell’s formal installation as president of SMU is tentatively scheduled for next fall.
It was immediately unclear who will lead UT-Austin in the interim or when the university will have a new president.
Hartzell has been president of UT-Austin since 2020. He previously served as dean of the McCombs School of Business and has been a UT-Austin faculty member since 2001.
Last year, his request for armed state troopers to respond to pro-Palestinian protests on campus received a vote of no confidence from faculty andpraise from the GOP.
This is a developing story; check back for details.
Disclosure: Southern Methodist University, University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas at Austin - McCombs School of Business and University of Texas at Austin - Texas Enterprise - McCombs School of Business 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.
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/07/texas-ut-austin-smu-jay-hartzell/.
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