Office of External Communications

Houston, TX 77204-5017 Fax: 713.743.8199

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 23, 2004

UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON SYSTEM
Contact: Angie Joe
713.743.8153 (office)
713.617.7138 (pager)
ajoe@uh.edu

Texas law requires the Board of Regents to give the public at least 21 days notice prior to a meeting at which final action is taken on the employment of the final candidate.

“We are excited that Dr. Hudson accepted our offer,” Gogue said. “He brings an impressive experience in higher education and a strong commitment to developing effective community partnerships that will benefit the university and the Victoria area.”

Hudson, 50, was named finalist from among nearly 80 candidates following a national search. Led by UH System Board of Regents Vice Chair Morgan Dunn O’Connor, the search committee earlier identified him as one of three top candidates in their recommendation to Chancellor Gogue.

The Hattiesburg-native holds a Ph.D. in geography from Clark University in Worcester, Mass. Prior to serving as USM’s provost, he was the university’s associate vice president for administrative affairs and dean of the College of International and Continuing Education. He is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a former researcher at the City of London Polytechnic. Hudson also has earned the 2002 International Association of Continuing Higher Education Distinguished Credit Programming Award, a Distinguished Teaching Achievement Award from the National Council for Geographic Education and a certificate of excellence from the U.S. Department of State. He has conducted extensive research and administered numerous academic programs in Latin America and Spain.

“In my new post at UHV, I hope to build strong alliances between the campus and the community so that together we can broaden education’s window of opportunity,” Hudson said. “Growing access to higher learning is an important and integral part of the economic development of a region.”

The search for a new UHV president began in February 2004. The search committee was composed of internal UHV constituents and members of the community. Hudson would succeed former President Karen S. Haynes, who assumed the presidency of California State University, San Marcos, in February. Don N. Smith, provost and vice president for academic affairs at UHV, has served as interim president. Upon confirmation by the Board of Regents, the geographer will become UHV’s sixth president effective Sept. 1.

Hudson is married to Deidra “Dee Dee” Ransburgh Hudson, who holds a master’s degree in speech and hearing science and a Ph.D. in higher education. They have five children: Holly, 27; Hannah, 22; Gianna Grace, 6; and twins Daisy and Nathaniel, both 3.

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON-VICTORIA
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region, is an upper-level institution that offers undergraduate and graduate students more than 30 degree programs and concentrations in the Schools of Arts & Sciences, Business, and Education. A faculty of experts at UHV offers students individual attention to help them succeed, whether learning in a classroom or online. UHV is defined more as a delivery system than as a location, as the university extends instruction, learning support, student services and community outreach to any area. Although it serves primarily commuting students from Victoria and surrounding counties, UHV also offers degree programs, in collaboration with other UH System institutions, at two off-campus centers in Fort Bend County and offers courses at a number of off-campus sites in the region. Since its founding in 1973, outreach, community partnerships and collaboration have characterized UHV’s history and mission.

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.