UNT System is getting a new chancellor. Here’s what he brings to higher ed in North Texas
Dr. Michael Williams’ claim to fame as president of the University of North Texas Health Science Center for the last nine years is something he didn’t do: raise tuition.
He identified the problem of graduates’ increasing debt load and applied his skills in both entrepreneurship and medicine.
“When you have empathy and compassion as a leader and you’ve got a foundation to have humility, it’s how you approach problems and how you approach people,” Williams said. “I saw students and families just like patients. It was an opportunity to say, ‘What are the real needs here?’”
He plans to bring the same empathy and spirit of disruption to his new role as chancellor of the University of North Texas System.
Williams was named the finalist for the position by the UNT Board of Regents on Monday. After a 21-day holding period, he’ll be named chancellor of the system’s locations in Dallas, Denton, Fort Worth and Frisco. The system has 47,320 students (including 40,796 at UNT) and 14,730 employees.
Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker called the decision “a very wise choice.”
“He’s a champion for smart people,” said Parker, “He doesn’t see gender or race the same way other people in his profession could.”
Williams will succeed Chancellor Lesa Roe, the system’s first woman chancellor. She announced in June she would step down in March 2022 after four years in the position.
Williams is an alumnus of UNT Health Science Center, where he earned his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree. He also holds an MBA from Duke University, a master’s in health care management from Harvard University and an M.D. from Ross University School of Medicine in Barbados.
He practiced medicine for more than 20 years before working in hospital administration and later higher education. In 2011, Williams was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to serve on the UNT Board of Regents.
As president of UNT Health Science Center, he helped create the TCU/UNT Health Science Center Medical School, or as Parker called it, “the brainchild of Dr. Williams.”
At the onset of the pandemic, Williams, in partnership with the city of Fort Worth, established the first COVID-19 testing site for first responders.
“I’ve got a big heart for the underserved or overlooked, what I call the ‘invisible people,’ and in many ways, I think first responders are looked at that way,” he said.
He also assisted in Tarrant County’s rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“He’s a real partner in how to solve complex problems,” Parker said.
Entering a long-established system as an innovator will be Williams’ biggest challenge in his new role, he foresees.
“Higher education’s value proposition is at risk of being more obsolete,” he said. “What you see is large industries are starting to build their own training programs. We have to be relevant, and I want to do what we can to be relevant.”
Williams will step into the role after helping with UNT Health Science Center’s search for his replacement.
This story was originally published November 8, 2021 at 7:30 PM.
