NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 17, 2007

Contact: Eric Gerber
713.743.8189 (office)
281.627.2065 (cell)
egerber@uh.edu

JOHN RUDLEY NAMED AS INTERIM LEADER OF UH AND UH SYSTEM
Veteran Administration and Finance Chief Will Serve
as Temporary President and Chancellor

HOUSTON, May 17, 2007 – The University of Houston System Board of Regents has appointed John M. Rudley, vice chancellor/vice president for administration and finance, to serve as Interim UH System Chancellor and Interim UH President. Rudley will assume his interim position on June 1 as Chancellor/President Jay Gogue leaves UH to serve as president of Auburn University.

“Dr. Rudley is a seasoned university administrator who is ideally suited to lead the UH System and University of Houston through this interim period,” said Leroy Hermes, chairman of the Board of Regents. “His understanding of the budget and financing of the university is second to none, and he has a solid commitment to moving us forward on our UH System strategic plan and the newly adopted master plan for the University of Houston. We are grateful for his stepping up to help us ensure that we can continue pushing ahead to build a stronger UH System and meet our goals of bringing UH into the ranks of national flagship research universities,” the chairman said.

“Dr. Gogue is leaving a strong legacy,” Rudley said. “He and the Regents have set a sound direction for the UH System and the University of Houston, and I am pleased to have the opportunity to continue the momentum that is under way. I look forward to working with university administrators, the faculty, students, staff and alumni at UH and UH-Clear Lake, UH-Downtown and UH-Victoria, as well as our friends and supporters throughout the state, to ensure that we maintain our progress toward meeting our strategic goals,” he said.

In his current position, Rudley is responsible for long-range financial planning, administrative policy development, treasurer operations and facilities planning. He has held numerous leadership positions in higher education, including vice president for business and finance at the Tennessee Board of Regents, which is the sixth-largest system of post-secondary education in the nation.

He served as the Senior Technical Advisor to the U.S. Department of Education. He has held administration- and finance-related positions in both Tennessee and Texas and acquired his public accounting experience from Coopers and Lybrand in Los Angeles and Seattle.

Rudley received his bachelor degree in business administration from the University of Toledo, and his M.Ed in administration and supervision and his doctoral degree in administration from Tennessee State University. He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in Tennessee. He is married to Docia Rudley, who is a professor of Law at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University.

Hermes is chairing the national search advisory committee to identify and recruit the next UH System and UH leader. “We hope to complete our search during the fall semester with an ambitious goal of bringing the new Chancellor/President on board by January 2008,” he said. “I know that we are going to keep our momentum going while we recruit new outstanding leadership for our institution, and I look forward to working with Dr. Rudley through the upcoming months.”

The interim president and chancellor will not be considered as a candidate for the full-time position.
For more information about the national search advisory committee, see: http://www.uh.edu/admin/media/nr/2007/05may/050907chancellorsearch.html.
For more information about the UHS Board of Regents, see: http://www.uhsa.uh.edu/regents/.

Press Room Photo: John M. Rudley

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.