UT President Gregory Fenves announced Monday that Maurie McInnis, vice provost for academic affairs and professor of art history at the University of Virginia, would be named UT’s next executive vice president and provost.
“Dr. McInnis was clearly the top candidate to emerge from an extensive national search, and I am excited to have her join the university’s leadership,” Fenves said in a statement. “Serving as the chief academic officer for the university, Dr. McInnis will bring broad experience in academic leadership from one of the best public research universities in the nation. She will help The University of Texas at Austin reach our goals of creating more opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration among our colleges and schools and transforming our degree programs.”
McInnis will officially take her position on July 1. Until then, Judy Langlois will continue as interim provost.
McInnis said she has admired the University for decades and is excited to become a Longhorn.
“The executive vice president and provost is the chief academic officer for the University,” McInnis said. “In that role is the responsibility for being focused on academic excellence, research excellence, increasing research, scholarly activity, creativity, innovation, working closely with the deans in order to enable their vision for moving their schools forward and making the best experience for our students,” McInnis said.
McInnis said that while she still needs to learn about the issues facing UT-Austin, she acknowledged the desire for students and educators to collaborate more with peers.
“I think many of us in higher education are interested in finding ways that we can make it easier for people to collaborate across their traditional disciplinary boundaries,” McInnis said.
McInnis said that similar to educators across the country, she will focus on accessibility and quality of higher education.
“All of us in higher education are focused on ensuring that students have access to higher education, that they are well supported while they are here, and that we can provide the kind of opportunities to receive an excellent education and to prepare them for their life and careers beyond,” McInnis said.
McInnis said she held many roles while at the University of Virginia, maintaining a position in the faculty for nearly 20 years.
“I’m enormously proud of what I’ve accomplished in the classroom in working with my undergraduate and graduate students,” McInnis said.
During her time at the University of Virginia, McInnis taught while also holding an administrative position. McInnis will have a faculty appointment at UT in the department of American studies.
“I love to teach and I love being in the classroom and in my administrative positions at the University of Virginia, even though teaching was not a required aspect of those positions, I have continued teaching,” McInnis said.
As she prepares to take her position, McInnis will be visiting the University throughout the spring semester.
