Contact: Monty Jones, (512) 499-4363

Date: November 15, 2000

UT System News Release

Regents Name Burck as Sole Finalist for Chancellor

TYLER - The search for a permanent chancellor of the University of Texas System moved a step closer to conclusion on Wednesday when the Board of Regents named R. D. Burck as the sole finalist for the position. Burck has served as interim chancellor since June.

Under state law, the board must announce one or more finalists for the chancellor's position at least 21 days before acting on the appointment.

"Dan Burck has more than exceeded the expectations of the Board of Regents during the months that he has served as interim chancellor," said Donald L. Evans, chairman of the board. "I look forward to voting in favor of his permanent appointment to the position. Dan has the breadth of experience, the management skills, and the wisdom to do a superb job as chancellor, as, indeed, he has been doing since last June."

Regent Tom Loeffler, vice chairman of the board and coordinator of the board's search for a chancellor, commented: "The University of Texas System would be quite fortunate to have Dan Burck fill this crucially important leadership position on a permanent basis. He knows and understands the system and its component institutions, and he is universally regarded in the higher education community as a person of the highest integrity and of firm and energetic commitment to excellence in all aspects of the U.T. System's complex mission."

Burck said: "I am gratified by the expression of confidence that the Board of Regents has made today. I will always do my utmost to merit that confidence, and I stand ready to serve the U.T. System in any capacity that the board may wish."

Burck would succeed William H. Cunningham, who stepped down from the chancellor's position at the end of May. Cunningham had been chancellor since 1992.

Burck has been a U.T. System official since 1988. He joined the system as vice chancellor for business affairs and was named executive vice chancellor in 1992. As executive vice chancellor, his responsibilities included finance, business operations, budget, information resources, human resources, facilities planning and construction, employee group insurance, real estate, and West Texas operations.

He established the System's program for increasing purchases from historically under-utilized businesses, administered a System-wide cost-saving program, and was in charge of a System-wide compliance program, which includes procedures and training to ensure that the System and its 15 institutions are in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

Before joining the system, Burck was president and director of Block Watne Texas Inc., a builder of residential housing. He worked worldwide for Getty Oil Co., headquartered in Los Angeles, for 29 years, from 1955 to 1984. After serving in numerous capacities, Burck was placed in charge of Getty's diversified operations in 1974.

Burck graduated from U.T. Austin in 1956 with a bachelor of business administration degree. He also attended the South Texas School of Law in Houston.