Contact: Monty Jones, (512) 499-4363

Date: June 10, 1999

UT System News Release

Chancellor Cunningham Announces Plans to Step Down in August 2000

AUSTIN – William H. Cunningham, chancellor of The University of Texas System since 1992, announced Thursday that he will step down from the chancellor’s position by the end of August 2000.

Cunningham said at a news conference that he believed this is a good time for the appointment of a new chancellor because of the successes of higher education in this year’s legislative session, the overall academic and financial strength of the U.T. System, and his interest in pursuing private business opportunities.

"This seems to me to be an appropriate time to make the transition to a new chancellor, who, I trust, will be in a position to continue the recent advances and successes of the system’s institutions well into the new century," Cunningham said.

"It has been my honor to serve the people of Texas for the past 14 years as a chief executive officer with the University of Texas, first as president of U.T. Austin for seven years, and then, since 1992, as chancellor of the U.T. System. By August 31, 2000, I will have completed a full eight years as the chancellor of one of the nation’s largest, most advanced, and most complex higher education organizations. I believe the record will reflect that the U.T. System is in excellent shape; that its faculty, students, and staff are among the finest anywhere in the world; and that its future is indeed bright."

As chancellor, Cunningham leads a 15-campus system that has 146,000 students, 76,000 employees, and an annual operating budget of $4.88 billion. The system has annual research expenditures of $871 million, provides more than $800 million worth of health care to indigent patients each year, and is responsible for the investment of more than $12 billion in endowment funds and other assets.

The Board of Regents is expected to form an advisory committee to help search for Cunningham’s successor. If a new chancellor is available to begin before August 31, 2000, Cunningham said he would step aside earlier.

"I pledge to do all that I can to ensure a smooth, orderly, and positive transition," he said. "My goal will be to make my successor’s first days on the job as successful and rewarding as my predecessor, Dr. Hans Mark, made my own first days back in 1992."

Donald L. Evans, chairman of the Board of Regents, praised Cunningham for his service to the university system.

"Bill Cunningham has served the people of Texas and the U.T. family with unsurpassed passion and love," Evans said. "He is one of the most knowledgeable and talented higher education leaders in the nation, and the U.T. System has been very fortunate to benefit from his vision and leadership.

"Dr. Cunningham is a person of boundless energy and enthusiasm, and he has maintained highly professional, cordial and effective working relationships with members of the Board of Regents, with the presidents of the system’s 15 institutions, and with the state’s key political leadership. He is a great Texan with a big heart who has rendered exemplary and extraordinary service to the people of this state. His many contributions to academic excellence and broad access to higher education will be felt for generations to come all across Texas, and because of him the lives of Texans are better."

Cunningham, 55, said that after he leaves the chancellorship he is interested in pursuing options in private business, adding that he is particularly interested in opportunities in the field of electronic commerce. He said he also will consider returning to faculty duties at U.T. Austin, where he is a professor of marketing and holds the James L. Bayless Chair for Free Enterprise.

Before becoming chancellor in 1992, Cunningham served as president of U.T. Austin from 1985 to 1992. For three years before that, he was dean of the U.T. Austin College and Graduate School of Business Administration.

Cunningham joined the U.T. Austin faculty in 1971 from Michigan State University, where he earned B.A., M.BA., and Ph.D. degrees. He was named a distinguished alumnus of Michigan State and received an honorary doctor of laws degree from the university in 1993.

Cunningham is a nationally known marketing scholar and former editor of the Journal of Marketing. His research interests include marketing management and research and strategic market planning. He has won seven teaching awards at U.T. Austin and has written 11 books.

"I am deeply grateful to current and former members of the Board of Regents, the outstanding executive officers and staff at the U.T. System, the presidents of the system’s 15 institutions, and so many other U.T. colleagues, students, alumni, and friends", he said. "Operating an organization of this size and complexity is truly a team effort, and I have been fortunate to be surrounded by the best team in American higher education.

"The colleagues that I have had the pleasure of working with in Austin are unparalleled in their professionalism and commitment. They are capable of running any major organization in the country, and I am honored to be associated with them."

Among the successful U.T. System initiatives cited by Cunningham on Thursday that began or have been significantly expanded during his tenure as chancellor were these:

• The South Texas/Border Initiative, which has expanded academic programs and facilities in long under-served regions of the state.
• Enhancement of the system’s financial management, including an expanded cost savings program, achievement of triple-A ratings for system bonds, and an increase in purchases from Historically Underutilized Businesses..
• Reorganization of asset management functions through establishment of the University of Texas Investment Management Co., the first entity of its kind at a public university.
• Legislative approval of a constitutional amendment, which will go to the voters in November 1999, to make the Permanent University Fund a "total return" fund, thus allowing the U.T. and Texas A&M systems to spend a limited portion of capital gains from the PUF for support of academic excellence programs and capital projects.
• Expansion of telecommunications and information technology, including inauguration of the UT TeleCampus for distance education, development of the system’s first completely online graduate programs and freshman courses, and expansion of digital libraries.
• Continuing pursuit of equity in higher education through initiatives for the advancement of women and minorities, compliance with federal rules on equity in women’s intercollegiate athletics, and effective responses to the Hopwood decision, which prohibited affirmative action programs in admissions and financial aid programs.
• Restructuring of health care delivery at U.T. System health institutions to function effectively under managed care.
• Inauguration of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Regional Academic Health Center, which will expand health education, medical research, and related services in the region.
• Expansion of collaborative programs between universities and public schools.
• Increases in the level of private donations to U.T. System institutions.