AUSTIN –The University of Texas System Board of Regents today (Nov. 9) unanimously elected new officers at its board meeting held in Austin.
H. Scott Caven, Jr., of Houston has been named the new chairman of the UT System Board of Regents and succeeds James R. Huffines of Austin, who served as chairman for more than three years. Huffines and Regent Robert B. Rowling of Dallas were each named vice chairman of the board.
Caven has served as a vice chairman of the board since August and currently serves as chairman of the Board of Director of The University of Texas Investment Management Co. (UTIMCO). He was appointed to the Board of Regents by Gov. Rick Perry in 2003.
“I am honored to have been elected to this position by my fellow regents and grateful to Gov. Perry for my initial appointment as a regent,” Caven said. “I look forward to working with my colleagues, the UT System leadership, and the campus presidents to advance the mission and goals of what I consider to be one of the finest public university systems in the country.”
Established by the Texas Constitution in 1876, the Board of Regents is composed of nine members who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. Terms for Regents are scheduled for six years each and staggered so that three members' terms will usually expire on February 1 of odd-numbered years. In addition, the Governor appoints a Student Regent for a one-year term that expires on May 31 of each year.
The University of Texas System is one of the nation’s largest higher education systems, with nine academic campuses and six health institutions. 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 confers more than one-third of the state's undergraduate degrees and educates nearly three-fourths of the state's health care professionals annually. With more than 80,000 employees, the UT System is one of the largest employers in the state.
