Emory University Appoints New President From University Of Texas

ATLANTA, GA — Emory University is getting a new president. The president of the University of Texas at Austin is leaving after 12 years to serve in the new leadership position. His will take on the new role this summer. He has served as dean of engineering, provost and, for the past five years, president of UT.

In a letter dated April 7, UT President Greg Fenves announced the new job. He said the board of trustees at Emory University in Atlanta voted to name him as their next president. He will begin that job on Aug. 1 and his time at UT will end on June 30.

“I am writing to let you know that after 12 years at UT, I will be leaving the Forty Acres this summer,” he wrote. “The job of a university president is multifaceted, and there is often a natural end. Earlier this year, before the crisis, I decided it was the right time to conclude my tenure at UT.”

He said the news happened in the “middle of the COVID-19 pandemic” and isn’t what he “expected or wanted.”

Until his last day, Fenves wrote that he will remain focused on finishing the semester and getting the “community back to normal” before his presidency ends.

On Wednesday, the UT System Regents selected McCombs School of Business Dean Jay Hartzell to serve as the interim president at UT.

According to a news release by Emory University, Fenves will be the 21st president by an unanimous vote of the board. He succeeds Claire E. Sterk, who announced her retirement in November 2019 after serving as Emory’s president since 2016.

“We are tremendously excited about the appointment of Greg Fenves, a world-class educator and brilliant leader,” says Bob Goddard, chair of Emory’s Board of Trustees and of the Presidential Selection Committee.

“We wanted someone with deep experience leading a major research university and a stellar record of scholarship. We also sought an inspirational leader and a person of impeccable character. Greg Fenves embodies all that we hoped to find.”

Fenves said he’s excited to begin the role and honored to be named president, but he acknowledges the current state of the country.

“Today, our universities face extraordinary challenges,” he said in a statement. “In Atlanta and Austin, as well as across the country, courageous health professionals and brilliant scientists are caring for the stricken and searching for a vaccine, while our faculty are educating students at a distance. I stand with them, and we must continue with the immediate job at hand. Accordingly, for the next few months, I will devote my time and energy to leading UT Austin through this crisis. My wife, Carmel, and I look forward to the day when we can begin the next phase of our lives at Emory.”