AUSTIN –The chairman of The University of Texas System Board of Regents today (Nov. 1) appointed members to a presidential search advisory committee to advise the UT System Board of Regents on the selection of a president for UT Health Science Center – Houston.
The committee will make recommendations to the Board on possible successors of President James T. Willerson, M.D., who announced his plans to step down as president of the institution when a successor has been named and is in place. Willerson, who has served as the president of the health science center for the past seven years, will subsequently become president of the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in Houston, succeeding Denton Cooley, M.D.
“Selecting the next leader of the UT Health Science Center at Houston – a world-class, prominent and reputable institution with a proven track record of excellence in health care, education and research – is considered one of the board's most important responsibilities,” said Regents’ Chairman James R. Huffines. “The individuals who have graciously agreed to give of their time and talent to serve on this search committee bring a wealth of experience and sound judgment to the process. We are grateful to all of them for accepting this responsibility and the board looks forward to receiving their recommendations.”
The committee will be asked to present the names of no more than 10 candidates – unranked – to the board, which will make the final decision. The committee membership is made in accordance with the Board of Regents’ Rules and Regulations, which includes a provision for representation on such committees by various constituencies of the institution.
The committee will be chaired by Kenneth I. Shine, M.D., executive vice chancellor for health affairs in the UT System.
Other members are:
- Regent John W. Barnhill, Jr., of Brenham, UT System
- John Mendelsohn, M.D., president, UT M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston
- Dr. David E. Daniel, president, UT Dallas
- Giuseppe N. Colasurdo, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine and H. Wayne Hightower Distinguished Professor in the Medical Sciences, UTHSC-H
- Patricia L. Starck, DSN, dean of the School of Nursing
- Patricia Sanchez, senior executive assistant, Office of Governmental Relations, UTHSC-H
- Rose Thelus, graduate student, School of Public Health
- Victoria L. Regan, M.D., president, UTHSC-H alumni association
- Dr. Stephen King, president, School of Public Health Alumni Association
- Elmer Victor Bernstam, M.D., associate professor of health informatics, School of Health Information Sciences, and associate professor of internal medicine, School of Medicine
- Emily K. Robinson, M.D., associate professor of surgery, School of Medicine
- Ted D. Pate, M.D., professor of integrative biology and pharmacology, School of Medicine; and professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Dental Branch
- David M. Grimes II of Houston
- Jodie L. Jiles of Houston
- Melinda Perrin of Houston
- Wilhemina “Beth” E. Robertson of Houston
- Christopher B. Sarofim of Houston
- Daniel J. Wolterman, president and CEO, Memorial Hermann Healthcare System
Spencer Stuart, an executive search firm, is assisting the UT System in the national search and advertisements for the position will be placed in publications so the committee may carry out its search as expeditiously as possible.
The most comprehensive academic health center in the Lone Star State, The University of Texas Health Science Center – Houston is home to six schools devoted to medicine, nursing, public health, dentistry, health informatics and graduate studies in biomedical science. In addition to the Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases (IMM), other components are the UT Harris County Psychiatric Center and the Mental Sciences Institute. The UT Health Science Center at Houston, founded in 1972, is part of the University of Texas System. It is a state-supported health institution whose state funding is supplemented by competitive research grants, patient fees and private philanthropy.
The UT Health Science Center – Houston is one of six health institutions and nine academic institutions that make up The University of Texas System, one of the nation’s largest higher education systems. The UT System has an annual operating budget of $10.7 billion (FY 2008) including $2.3 billion in research funded by federal, state, local and private sources. Student enrollment exceeded 190,000 in the 2006 academic year. The UT System educates nearly three-fourths of the state’s health care professionals and confers more than one-third of the state's undergraduate degrees. With more than 80,000 employees, the UT System is one of the largest employers in the state.
