UT Arlington’s new president announced after nearly two years without permanent leader
Jennifer Evans-Cowley, provost at the University of North Texas, has been elected president of UT Arlington by the University of Texas Board of Regents, according to an email from system Chancellor James Milliken.
Cowley will begin her new role on April 28, making her the first female president in the university’s history. Teik Lim, the interim president who has been chosen to lead the New Jersey Institute of Technology starting later this year, is expected to stay on and assist with the transition until he leaves for New Jersey.
Cowley has been a leader in research at UNT, a Carnegie Research 1 institution, and is expected to bring that experience to UT Arlington.
UTA was named last year as a Texas Tier 1 university, one of the requirements for which is spending more than $45 million in restricted research two years in a row. It, too, is a Carnegie Research 1 institution since 2016.
It’s been nearly two years since former UTA president Vistasp Karbhari resigned amid allegations of misconduct, bullying and retaliation. The search for Karbhari’s successor was placed on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Texas Tier 1 designation means UTA will have access to the state’s National Research University Fund, which awards dollars toward emerging research universities in Texas. State lawmakers established the fund in 2009 to provide institutions an opportunity to become “national leaders in research output,” according to a university news release.
According to her LinkedIn, Cowley has been with UNT since July 2017. Before that, she held jobs from associate professor to vice provost for capital planning and regional campuses at The Ohio State University from 2009 to 2017. She also served at an associate professor at that university from 2001 to 2007.
From 1998 to 2001, she worked as an assistant research scientist at Texas A&M University, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Cowley has a doctorate in urban and regional science from Texas A&M, according to a curriculum vitae and cover letter published by the University of Nevada, Reno, where she applied to be president in 2020. She earned her bachelor of political science from A&M, then went on to earn a master’s degree in urban planning from A&M and master’s in public administration and interdisciplinary studies from UNT.
“It is a privilege and honor to serve the @utarlington community,” Cowley wrote on Twitter. “I look forward to hearing from all of our staff, faculty and students about how we can partner to become an even stronger university.”
This story was originally published February 1, 2022 at 2:33 PM.