Contact: Anthony de Bruyn, (512) 499-4363

Date: December 12, 2003

UT System News Release

AUSTIN - The appointment of an 18-member Presidential Search Advisory Committee to advise the University of Texas System Board of Regents on the selection of a president for U.T. Dallas was announced today (Dec. 12) by Charles Miller, chairman of the board.

The committee will make recommendations on possible successors to President Franklyn Jenifer, who announced on Oct. 2 that he plans to retire. The committee will be asked to present the names of five to 10 candidates, unranked, to the board, which will make the final decision. The search process will begin immediately with advertisements for the position placed in national publications so the committee can carry out its search as expeditiously as possible.

"The distinguished membership of the advisory committee will be of great assistance to the Board of Regents as we enter into the critically important process of finding a new president who will carry forward the mission of U.T. Dallas and build on the tremendous achievements of President Jenifer," Miller said. "The board considers presidential searches to be among its most important responsibilities, and we look forward to a rewarding search process for UTD in the months ahead."

The committee membership was formed in accordance with the Board of Regents' rules and regulations, which includes a provision for representation on such committees by various constituencies of a university.

The committee will be chaired by Dr. Teresa A. Sullivan, executive vice chancellor for academic affairs for the U.T. System. Chancellor Mark G. Yudof will also serve on the committee.

Representing the Board of Regents on the committee will be Rita C. Clements of Dallas and James Richard Huffines of Austin.

Representing presidents of other U.T. System institutions are Kirk Calhoun, M.D., president of the U.T. Health Center at Tyler, and Dr. Diana Natalicio, president of U.T. El Paso.

The UTD faculty representatives, as selected by the Faculty Senate, are Dr. Ramaswamy Chandrasekaran, professor of engineering and computer science; Dr. Murray Leaf, professor of anthropology and political economy; and Dr. Robert S. Nelsen, associate professor of creative writing.

Dr. Bert Moore, dean of the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, was selected for the committee by the UTD Deans' Council.

Representing the UTD staff, as selected by the campus Staff Council, is Betty Loy, a contracts and grants specialist at the Callier Center for Communication Disorders.

Ryan Davidson, a junior government major, was selected by the UTD Student Government to serve on the committee as the student representative.

Anchi H. Ku, chairman of the UTD Alumni Executive Committee, will serve on the committee by virtue of her leadership of the alumni organization.

The community representatives are:

• Mary McDermott Cook, philanthropist and president of the McDermott Foundation.
• I. D. (Nash) Flores III, partner with Ceres Capital Partners, a private equity firm engaged in corporate acquisitions.
• Larry Haynes, partner with Ernst & Young, LLP in Dallas.
• Ron Steinhart, former president of Bank One, Texas, and former CEO of Bank One Commercial Banking Group.
• Dr. Johannes M. C. (Hans) Stork, senior vice president and director of silicon technology development at Texas Instruments Inc.

The University of Texas at Dallas is one of nine academic universities and six health institutions that comprise the U.T. System, the state's largest higher education system. The U.T. System confers one-third of the state's undergraduate degrees and educates three-fourths of the state's health care professionals annually.

The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor, enrolls about 13,700 students. The school's freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programs.