UT President Jay Hartzell to step down, lead Southern Methodist University

AUSTIN (KXAN) — After spending more than two decades at The University of Texas at Austin, UT President Dr. Jay Hartzell will soon serve as the next president of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, SMU announced Tuesday.

Hartzell will officially take over as SMU's president on June 1, following approval by SMU's board of trustees Tuesday. The announcement comes after Hartzell has spent 23 years as a UT faculty member and administrator, joining the university in 2001, per SMU's announcement.

The University of Texas System Board of Regents named Hartzell UT's president back in September 2020. Prior to serving as president of UT, Hartzell worked as the dean of UT's McCombs School of Business. Under his McCombs leadership, the business school launched its Goff Real Estate Labs and opened Rowling Hall, which houses UT's MBA program.

“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 the release. “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.”

In an email to the UT Community Tuesday morning, Hartzell confirmed this would be his final semester at UT. In his letter, he extended his thanks to the UT System Board of Regents and its chairman, Kevin Eltife, for the opportunity to lead the university.

"As I look back on the last five academic years, with their support, our University has accomplished a great deal," he wrote. "This has been a team effort, including the leadership of our great state, the Board of Regents, the Chancellor and UT System staff, UT Austin's faculty, staff, students, and their families, and of course, our amazing alumni."

Highlights Hartzell flagged in his letter included UT hitting an all-time record number of applications, enrollment levels, graduation rates and research expenditures; beginning plans for UT Austin's Academic Medical Center; launching renovations on UT's Tower; rolling out the university's first housing scholarship program; and winning 11 NCAA national championships alongside three Directors' Cups and joining the Southeastern Conference.

Hartzell earned his Bachelor of Science in business administration and economics from Trinity University and holds a Ph.D. in finance from UT Austin. He is expected to officially begin serving as SMU's 11th president next fall, per the release.

Hartzell will replace SMU President R. Gerald Turner, who announced in August 2024 he would step down from his role at the end of the academic year, according to reporting from NBC 5 in Dallas. Turner first joined SMU in 1995, with tenure highlights including SMU's $2 billion endowment, securing the George W. Bush Presidential Center and SMU joining the Atlantic Coast Conference.

SMU currently has more than 12,000 students enrolled in its undergraduate and graduate programs and encompasses eight schools. The Dallas school features 148 endowed faculty positions and 168 major academic initiatives, per the release.