Dear UT Faculty, Staff and Students,

I am excited to announce that Dr. William “Will” Inboden, a distinguished teacher and scholar who has served in multiple leadership positions across higher education and government, will be the new Executive Vice President and Provost of UT Austin, effective Aug. 1. He will also hold the William Powers, Jr. Chair and a joint faculty appointment with the Department of History and the School of Civic Leadership.  Will’s extensive experience will be invaluable at this pivotal time in higher education. 

This appointment marks a homecoming for Will, who held several academic leadership roles at UT Austin and the UT System from 2010 to 2023, including as founder and executive director of the Clements Center for National Security and co-director of The University of Texas System National Security Network. He also served as a faculty member of the LBJ School of Public Affairs, as founding editor-in-chief of the Texas National Security Review, and a Distinguished Scholar at the Strauss Center for International Security and Law.

Currently a professor and director of the Alexander Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida, Will is also a Peterson Senior Fellow with the Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He received his Ph.D., M.Phil and M.A. degrees in history from Yale University and an A.B. in history from Stanford University.

In building the Hamilton School, Will recruited and hired over 50 new faculty members, oversaw the design and approval of four new multidisciplinary undergraduate majors and two new Ph.D. programs, and developed a university-wide core class in civil discourse.

As a scholar, Will has authored numerous books, articles and chapters on diplomatic history, religion and foreign policy, the American presidency, and national security. He is a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and his research and teaching have been recognized with numerous honors, including “Lecturer of the Year” and “Best Class in the LBJ School,” and selection as a “Texas 10” by the Texas Exes.

I want to thank David Vanden Bout for serving as Interim Executive Vice President and Provost. David’s strong and steady leadership has been critical over the past six months. I am grateful that David will continue as a special advisor to our leadership team and Dean of the College of Natural Sciences.

Please join me in welcoming Will back to UT and thanking David for his continued service to our mission.

Sincerely,

Jim Davis
Interim President