University of Texas at Austin President Jay Hartzell is leaving his position to become the next president of Southern Methodist University.
The Southern Methodist University Board of Trustees voted unanimously to name Hartzell as its new president on Tuesday morning. He will assume that position on June 1, taking over for SMU’s current president, R. Gerald Turner, who announced he was stepping down last August. Turner, who’s led SMU since 1995, is expected to transition to the role of president emeritus this summer.
“I am honored to serve as the next president of an exceptional institution like SMU in one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing cities in the nation, and excited to see how I can make the greatest impact as a leader,” Hartzell said in an SMU news release.
He added, “SMU’s stellar – and rising – national reputation, decades of extraordinary internal and external leadership, strong board of trustees, accomplished alumni, and impressively strong and diverse students and faculty made this an opportunity that Kara and I could not pass up. I look forward to building upon the University’s remarkable momentum and leading SMU into its next era.”
Hartzell was named president of UT Austin in September 2020. Before that, he served as the 12th dean of the university’s McCombs School of Business, where he helped grow the school’s national reputation and impact.
He joined the UT faculty in 2001 after having been a faculty member at New York University’s Stern School of Business. Hartzell graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio with a B.S. in business administration and economics and then earned a doctorate in finance from UT Austin.
As UT Austin President, Hartzell is credited with launching the $6 billion What Starts Here capital campaign, a philanthropic effort that began in 2016. Under his leadership, UT Austin saw enrollment gains and set all-time highs for graduation rates. The university embarked on a new strategic plan, expanded it student financial aid dramatically and increased its research expenditures to more than $1 billion under his watch. He also oversaw the decision to move the university to the Southeastern Conference in 2024.
But Hartzell has also had to contend with recent controversy at UT as well as a political climate that has seen the state legislature assume a progressively more aggressive role toward public higher education on issues like faculty tenure, university governance and curriculum. As a private institution, SMU will likely be shielded from such legislative intrusions.
And last April, Hartzell received a no confidence letter signed by hundred of UT faculty over both his closure of a UT office involved in DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) activities and his response to campus protests over the war in Gaza that resulted in scores of arrests.
In a statement released after those protests, Hartzell defended his actions. “The protesters tried to deliver on their stated intent to occupy campus,” he wrote. “People not affiliated with UT joined them, and many ignored University officials’ continual pleas for restraint and to immediately disperse.” He added, “peaceful protests within our rules are acceptable. Breaking our rules and policies and disrupting others’ ability to learn are not allowed. The group that led this protest stated it was going to violate Institutional Rules. Our rules matter, and they will be enforced. Our University will not be occupied.”
The UT System Board of Regents thanked Hartzell for his 24 years of service and said it will work with him to ensure a smooth transition to the next leader.
“We congratulate UT Austin President Jay Hartzell on being named the new president of Southern Methodist University,” UT System board Chairman Kevin Eltife and Chancellor J.B. Milliken said in a statement. “We greatly appreciate his service as UT Austin’s president since 2020 and on its faculty since 2001.”