UHS BOARD CHAIR HERMES' STATEMENT ABOUT
JAY GOGUE’S APPOINTMENT TO THE PRESIDENCY OF AUBURN UNIVERSITY
HOUSTON, March 22, 2007 – On Thursday, the Board of Trustees
of Auburn voted to appoint Jay Gogue, currently University of Houston
System Chancellor and UH President, to the presidency of Auburn,
effective July 16. UHS Board of Regents Chairman Leroy Hermes issued
this statement to the UH community:
As you know, Chancellor Gogue today accepted the offer to be Auburn
University's next President. As I said in my earlier message to
everyone, it is virtually impossible to turn down your alma mater
when such an opportunity arises. So as much as we regret losing
Jay and Susie Gogue back to their home in Alabama, we are very proud
of what we have accomplished with their help since they joined us
in 2003. And we are looking forward to finding an outstanding leader
to take us even closer to our goals of being a leading metropolitan
university system and for UH to be recognized as a major national
research university.
We have a strong team in place with the Vice Presidents and deans
at UH and the Presidents and their Cabinets and deans at UH-Clear
Lake, UH-Downtown, and UH-Victoria. This is not a time for us to
go into a holding pattern.
We have a dynamic strategic plan in place for the UH System that
has been working for two years. We have an artful master plan for
the University of Houston that promises to dramatically change its
physical footprint and raise its profile and reputation to attract
top undergraduate and graduate students. We have a number of mini-campaigns
under way to support specific projects and buildings at UH as well
as systemwide programs such as UH System at Sugar Land. All of these
efforts and the many others occurring throughout our colleges and
departments will continue to move forward during this time of change.
On behalf of the Board of Regents, I commit to every member of the
University of Houston System and the University of Houston communities
that we will work closely with you to identify and recruit an outstanding
chancellor and president. At the upcoming Regents meeting, April
3, the board will establish plans for a national search. We hope
to get that under way as quickly as possible. We will announce interim
leadership for the system and university once the transition timetable
is laid out with Chancellor Gogue.
I will keep you informed of our progress on all of these areas and
will directly involve representatives from all major constituencies:
faculty, students, staff, administration, alumni, and community,
in our search for the next Chancellor of the University of Houston
System and President of the University of Houston.
In the meantime, I know you will join my fellow regents and me in
thanking Jay and Susie Gogue for their significant contributions
to our institutions and wishing them the very best in their new
roles.
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON SYSTEM
The University of Houston System is the state’s only metropolitan
higher education system, encompassing four universities and two
multi-institution teaching centers. The universities are the University
of Houston, a nationally recognized doctoral degree-granting, comprehensive
research university; the University of Houston-Downtown, a four-year
undergraduate university beginning limited expansion into graduate
programs; and the University of Houston-Clear Lake and the University
of Houston-Victoria, both upper division and master’s-level
institutions. The centers are the UH System at Sugar Land in Fort
Bend and the UH System at Cinco Ranch. In addition, the UH System
includes KUHF-FM, Houston’s National Public Radio and classical
radio station, and KUHT-TV, the nation’s first educational
television station.
For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.
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