David Vanden Bout, the dean of the College of Natural Sciences, will be interim provost and replace Rachel Davis Mersey in the role, interim president Jim Davis announced in an email Thursday. 

The University appointed Mersey to the position of provost and executive vice president in January after serving as interim provost since August 2024, according to a news release. Mersey also served as the dean of Moody College of Communication in 2023 and the associate dean for research at Moody College in 2020. 

“I want to express my thanks to Provost Rachel Davis Mersey for her many contributions as a leader and faculty member,” Davis said in the email. 

Vanden Bout earned his doctorate in chemical physics from UT in 1995 after receiving a bachelor’s in chemistry from Duke University in 1990. Since his hiring at the University in 1997, he served in various positions over his almost 30 year tenure before working in an administrative position in the College of Natural Sciences in 2013.

“During more than 27 years at UT Austin, David has earned the trust of our faculty and deans,” Davis said in the email. “His academic leadership and deep experience on the frontier of science greatly enhances our broad teaching and research mission.” 

No information concerning Mersey’s current or future employment status at the University has been released. The University has declined to comment.