Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Emerita
Distinguished Professor Emerita
University of Houston

Expertise: Impact of organizational context on participant engagement and empowerment; system collaboration to improve student graduation success; performance funding in higher education; leadership development.

Paula Short served as senior vice president for academic affairs for the University of Houston and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs for the University of Houston System from 2013 until her retirement in 2022. At that time, the UH Board of Regents voted to award Short emerita status as senior vice president and distinguished professor at the University of Houston.

As senior vice president/senior vice chancellor, she established the UH Graduate School, Cougar Chairs Leadership Academy, the Foundations of Excellence initiative and Houston GPS, as well as implemented student success initiatives such as UH in 4, Provost Summer Read, Passport for Coogs and Cub Camp. Prior to joining UH, Short served 12 years as vice chancellor for academic affairs for the Tennessee Board of Regents, the sixth-largest governing board system of higher education in the United States. As vice chancellor, she served as a legislatively appointed board member of the Tennessee Technology Development Corporation and as a board member of the Life Sciences Institute–Tennessee Emerging Technologies. She led the development of the Tennessee Statewide Transfer Initiative and created many collaborative initiatives among universities and community colleges in Tennessee.

As senior vice chancellor for the University of Houston System, Short was responsible for the academic quality and accreditation of all UH System institutions and chaired the System Provost Council. She served two terms on the Funding Formula Committee at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

As UH senior vice president and provost, she was responsible for faculty development, strategic enrollment planning, undergraduate student success, graduate education, education innovation and technology, and global strategies and partnerships. She led the establishment of three new colleges: the Katherine G. McGovern College of the Arts, the Hobby School of Public Affairs and the Andy and Barbara Gessner College of Nursing. In addition, Short was the director of the Center for ADVANCING UH Faculty Success, funded by a $3.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation. She also founded the Faculty Engagement and Development Center in the Office of the Provost to support all faculty in their professorial work.

Nationally, Short has served as president of two international professional organizations. Early in her career, she received the Jack A. Culbertson Award, given for early accomplishments as a professor by the University Council for Educational Administration, and later received the Master Professor Award from the University Council for Educational Administration, recognizing her record of promoting educational innovation in the classroom. In 2009, she was the recipient of the Paul A. Elsner International Excellence Award in recognition of her accomplishments in improving higher education. She has published more than 100 journal articles, books, book chapters and technical reports.

Short has served as a tenured faculty member at Auburn University, The Pennsylvania State University, the University of Missouri–Columbia and UH’s College of Education. She received her Ph.D. in administration in the Department of Organizational Development and Institutional Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.