The corporation that manages investments benefiting the University of Texas System and Texas A&M System is looking for a new CEO after Bruce Zimmerman, the previous CEO, resigned last week. 

Zimmerman was hired by the University of Texas Investment Management Co. in 2007, and when he started, the total assets managed were $23.5 billion. The assets are now valued at about $37 billion. During Zimmerman’s tenure as CEO, he was able to add a $4.25 billion value to the endowment by building a team of investors around him, according to a UT System press release. 

A search advisory committee was announced last week to help assist the Board of Directors with the selection of the new CEO, although the members of the committee have yet to be selected. The Board is comprised of regents from both UT and Texas A&M. 

“[The members of] the search committee [have] not been announced and there is no other information at this time on the creation of it,” Melanie Thompson, UT System media relations specialist, said. 

Zimmerman did not state why he was stepping down, and The Daily Texan was unable to reach him at this time.

“It has been my extraordinary honor to lead UTIMCO and I am so proud of the results the team has delivered,” Zimmerman said in a UT System press release. “The UTIMCO staff and Board, and everyone associated with the UT and A&M Regents and Systems, are remarkable people contributing so much to the state. While I will miss working with my colleagues, I have great optimism about UTIMCO’s future and I am excited to begin the next chapter in my life.” 

Last week, the Board appointed Mark Warner, former UTIMCO senior managing director, to serve as the interim CEO. 

“We are continuing to move UTIMCO forward in all respects,” Warner said in an email. “As one of Chancellor McRaven’s team of teams, our board expects us to provide leadership and to continue to focus on the returns necessary to support the mission of the UT and A&M systems.”

Jeffery Hildebrand, chairman of the UTIMCO Board and vice chairman of the UT System Board of Regents, said in the UT System press release he was confident in Warner’s ability to lead and make progress while the Board searches for the new CEO. Hildebrand said the opening will attract the best possible talent.

Warner said he is currently in contention for the permanent CEO position after recommendations from the Board.

“The search committee [leadership] has been very supportive and has encouraged me to participate in their process,” Warner said in an email. “I am happy to do so, but I consider my candidacy to be on behalf of the entire UTIMCO staff, so that they are represented in the process to determine their next leader. We all take great comfort in the leadership of Jeff Hildebrand and the excellent search committee he has assembled and we have no doubt their efforts will result in world class leadership for UTIMCO’s future.”