FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 19, 2004

Contact: Jennifer Price
361.570.4350
pricej@uhv.edu

Contact: Eric Gerber
713.743.8189 (office)
713.617.7130(pager)
egerber@uh.edu

Editor’s Note: A photo of Tim Hudson is available at:
http://www.uh.edu/media/nr/2004/07july/072304thudson.html.

HOUSTON, Aug. 19, 2004 – Tim Hudson, formerly the University of Southern Mississippi’s provost and vice president for academic affairs, has been confirmed as president of the University of Houston-Victoria (UHV).

The University of Houston System Board of Regents voted to approve him at its Thursday, Aug. 19, meeting.

Hudson assumes the post of UHV’s seventh president effective Sept. 1.

Hudson was named finalist for the post July 23. 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.

Hudson, a 50-year-old native of Hattiesburg, Miss., was selected from among nearly 80 candidates following a national search. Led by UH System Board of Regents member Morgan Dunn O’Connor, the search committee earlier identified him as one of three top candidates in their recommendation to UHS Chancellor Jay Gogue.

“Tim Hudson has broad-based teaching and administrative higher education experience, and he will provide dynamic leadership for UHV,” said O’Connor, chair of the presidential search committee. “He is uniquely qualified because he has extensive experience with distance delivery of education, and the management of multiple sites – similar to the arrangement UHV has with the teaching center in Sugar Land. Tim believes in the transforming power of higher education and is committed to strengthening and building UHV’s partnerships and alliances throughout the educational, cultural and business community.”

Hudson 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.

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 succeeds 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.

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.