Contact: Monty Jones, (512) 499-4363

Date: January 26, 2001

UT System News Release

AUSTIN - The Board of Regents of the University of Texas System voted Friday to name Tom Loeffler as chairman. Loeffler succeeds Donald L. Evans, who resigned from the board Jan. 19 to become U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

As the board's first vice chairman, Loeffler began assuming the duties of chairman when Evans resigned. Friday's unanimous vote came in a meeting by telephone conference call.

Loeffler, of San Antonio, is nearing the completion of his second six-year term on the board. His term expires Feb. 1, but he will continue to serve until new regents are appointed by Gov. Rick Perry and confirmed by the Texas Senate.

"I am honored by the support of my fellow regents," Loeffler said. "And, I am grateful to Gov. William P. Clements for my initial appointment to the board and to Gov. George W. Bush for my reappointment. I will have the distinction of having one of the longest tenures of service as a regent, and I will likely have the shortest term as chairman."

The board will elect a new chairman and other officers after new regents are confirmed. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the board is in Austin on Feb. 14-15.

Loeffler was first appointed to the board by Gov. Clements in 1989 and was reappointed by Gov. Bush in 1995. He has chaired the Health Affairs Committee since 1995 and has also served on committees dealing with academic affairs, asset management, facilities planning and business affairs, as well as on the board of the University of Texas Investment Management Co.

Loeffler represented the 21st Congressional District of Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1979 to 1987. He was the first Republican elected to Congress from that district. He served on the House Energy & Commerce, Appropriations, and Budget Committees.

A fourth-generation Texan, Loeffler was born in Fredericksburg in 1946, and grew up on a ranch near Mason. He played football at U. T. Austin, where he earned an undergraduate degree (B.B.A.) in 1968 and a law degree (J.D.) in 1971.

Loeffler was chief legislative counsel to Sen. John Tower. After two years in that job and a short stint as deputy for congressional affairs in the Federal Energy Administration, he became special assistant for legislative affairs to President Gerald Ford in 1975.