Dear UTA campus community,

I am excited to share that, after an extensive national search, the University has selected Dr. Tamara Brown to become UTA’s next provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs. She will join UTA on August 1. As provost, Dr. Brown will serve as the University’s chief academic officer and take responsibility for realizing our vision of being one of the nation’s most inclusive and impactful research universities.

I look forward to welcoming Dr. Brown into the Maverick family, and I know we will benefit greatly from her expertise and collaborative spirit as we work on advancing our four thematic areas: people and culture, student success, research and innovation, and alumni and community engagement.

Bringing in a proven leader is a testament to our standing as a university, our recent achievements, and the diligent efforts of our 20-member search committee. On behalf of the University, I want to express my appreciation to the search committee and to its chairman, Dr. Jim Grover, dean of the Graduate School and interim vice president for research, for his astute leadership. I am filled with gratitude for our search committee members and their work in developing and evaluating a competitive, diverse pool of candidates.

Additionally, thank you to the many who actively participated in this search process. Whether you nominated candidates, attended the finalist forums, or completed our finalist feedback surveys, sharing your perspective helped us identify the candidate who best matches UTA’s commitment to student, staff, and faculty success.

While we celebrate the addition of Dr. Brown to our senior leadership team, I hope you will take the time to join me in thanking Dr. Pranesh Aswath for his distinguished service as interim provost for more than two years now. Dr. Aswath played a vital role in UTA’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, helped to maintain the University’s focus on achieving Texas Tier One designation, and has worked tirelessly to sustain and build on the University’s momentum in the face of an ever-evolving higher education landscape. We are very fortunate to have received his energy and expertise in the interim role. 

Please continue to keep an eye out for updates and opportunities to engage with our five remaining executive searches. Your partnership has helped us arrive at today’s celebratory announcement, and I hope it will do the same for the remaining searches. Your next opportunity to engage will be in June, when we host campus visits for candidates for the vice president for research and innovation and for the athletic director. More details to come.