State of the University Address

Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Hogg Memorial Auditorium

State of the University Address

Remarks as prepared:

Not long ago, I had the opportunity to see the original, handwritten version of the Texas Constitution. The archivist turned to Article Seven to show me the section that is titled, “University.”

150 years ago, the people of Texas called for a “University of the first class” to be named “The University of Texas.” We gather today to take stock — take stock of our collective fulfillment of that mission. And we consider what we will accomplish together in our season as stewards of the flagship public University for the great state of Texas.

Measure it any way you want, and the results are the same: There is no doubt that the University of Texas is a university of the first class. Let me give you some examples.

Last year, we delivered the highest number of degrees in our history. We received an all-time record number of applicants and admitted one of our largest incoming classes. We grew the student body to an all-time high, and, at the same time, we improved our four-year graduation rate.

Likewise, our research mission is thriving. During a time of uncertainty in research funding, Texas grew the scope of our annual research from $1 billion to $1.37 billion, and we are on track to hit $1.5 billion this year. We rose to become the number one funded university by the national science foundation in the world, and we grew the trust of other key funding agencies, including energy, defense, and health.

We raised our highest amount of funds from our alumni and supporters in our history. We even celebrated our first billion-dollar family, Susan and Michael Dell.

The state of the University is clear. Texas is on the rise. We have more students than ever, more financial support than ever, and more faculty than ever who are ready to join. Last year, we had nearly 12,500 applications for 94 open faculty positions. Within a few days of announcing the new Core Curriculum, we had 1,200 more — just to teach in the Core. We recently opened the position for the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. And we’ve had an overwhelming number of applications. 

The word is out. Texas is the place to be and the place to thrive. We are stable. We are flourishing. And we are ready for what’s next. But before we get to what’s next, let me talk to you about why we’re ready.

From Restoring Trust to Acting on Mission

We are ready because we are building a culture — one that is focused on mission, decision, and action.

We knew last year that there was work to do to be a model of public trust at a time when trust in higher education, in general, was at an all-time low. I have noticed that other universities are beginning to talk about this. They are beginning to talk about where higher education was going wrong. They are asking questions about self-indulgence, entitlement, political drift, and divisive factions, among other things like that. But sometimes in higher education, there seems to be a belief that if you’ve said something, you’ve done something.

That’s where we’re different. At Texas, we are focused on doing something.

At UT, we put the mission at the center of what we do. We recognize that we have positions of public trust, and that requires us to serve others instead of ourselves. When we talk, we express the timeless values of duty, stewardship, and responsibility. We articulate them and act on them over our individual self-interests. This is not a slogan. This is part of our character. This is how we put mission first.

Then we make decisions — thoughtful, strategic, faculty-informed decisions. I am immensely grateful for the faculty who serve on the President’s Faculty Advisory Board. We have real discussions over serious issues, and their advice shapes policy. Many of you are here today, and I appreciate the work that you do. Thank you very much.

I’m also grateful for the faculty working groups who are taking on serious work for the University. These groups are addressing important topics, including academic freedom and responsibility, the use of artificial intelligence in the classroom, grade inflation, and reducing the orange tape burden, among other topics.

What we are building is alignment. What we are experiencing is a call and response, between faculty and leadership, faculty and the Board of Regents, and faculty and the Legislature. That does not mean we all agree, nor should it. What it means is that we have found a way to elevate our discussion to a higher ground, and we are making informed decisions based on mission.

That seems simple and common sense. But in the modern world of higher education, that is something to celebrate.

After we make informed decisions, we take action. We prioritize. We execute with resolve. We do what it takes to accomplish our plans. When you say what you do and do what you say, it builds trust. Based on mission, decision, and action, we can move forward and continue to move forward. We can harness the power of our various strengths to build and sustain One UT.

Let me give you three of the priorities that we are advancing as One UT.

Putting Patients at the Center of Health

First, we are launching UT Dell Medicine, where we put patients at the center. We are starting an entire new health system within our existing University. This is not adding another college, school, or unit, as we use those terms. This is not extending the reach of the medical school. This is a paradigm shift of our fundamental nature.

We have been an academic and research enterprise for 143 years. Now, we are adding a health institution into our organization. We will treat patients in a cutting-edge academic medical center and conduct medical and health-related research at a whole new level. And we are grateful to Dr. Claudia Lucchinetti, who leads this charge.

Every decision we are making as we build the UT Dell Medical Center starts with the patient. This is what makes our version of academic medicine one of a kind. It is fully “integrated.”

It starts with integrated care, where the patient is at the center, and the team is formed around the need. This includes integrating the work of UT MD Anderson with UT Dell Med. One hospital. One team. One patient at a time.

No longer will patients move from office to office to get the next test, next diagnosis, the next treatment, then another next test, and on and on. Instead, the patient is surrounded by UT, world-class physicians and staff, all working together as one team.

Alongside the people, there is the technology. Integrate the technology into the care team. Design the building itself with sensors and AI-driven technology to connect to your personal technology. It’s part of how we improve your care before you even walk in the doors. In that sense, we’re not just building a hospital. It’s more than that. Fundamentally, we’re building a technology platform to improve individual health and treat disease.

Then there is the research. When you start a health institution inside of a university, it integrates the research. It combines our unique strengths in medicine, engineering, robotics, computing, natural sciences, social work, nursing, pharmacy, business — across the board.

And then there is the teaching. Our students will learn and grow as part of this integrated system. There will be no better place to train in healthcare than UT Dell Medicine. Integrated care. Integrated technology. Integrated research. Where the patient is at the center of our mission. UT Dell Medicine is no longer a vision. It is real. And it will change UT and human health for the better.

Putting the Challenge at the Center of Research

Second, we are investing in integrated research, just as we invest in integrated medicine. Here the mission is to solve a challenge — put the challenge at the center — and bring our various disciplines together to meet it.

Generations of investment and talent have put us in a position where we are world-class. We have strengths across all the fields we all know about, and we are poised to be the leaders of the next thing, and the next thing, and the next. We live at the frontiers of science. And while we will continue to invest in our strengths and grow new ones, this is the time to bring our strengths together to solve problems that are bigger than any one discipline.

To accelerate this, we set our sights on a Frontiers of Science building. This is a different decision on how we organize a lab. It is not an engineering building. It is not a natural sciences building. It is not “owned” — as we use that word — by any college or school. Instead, this will be a University lab building, designed to bring different disciplines together to address challenges that require a team.

This is also a lab building of the future that incorporates technology much like our hospital of the future. What is the role of AI, computation, robotics, automation, quantum — not only as targets of discovery, but as tools for the next frontiers of discovery?

This is the kind of facility where we will make the next breakthroughs that change the world. It is the kind of facility that will help us bring five-star faculty to our campus. That building is on our mind now. Let’s put it on our map.

Putting Students at the Center of Academics

Third, we are organizing our academics to put students at the center. I am grateful for the leadership of our Executive Vice President and Provost, Dr. William Inboden, and his team, for all the work they are putting into this goal. One place you can see it is in our new Core Curriculum.

Revisiting our core curriculum was not just required. It was needed. Our core curriculum had devolved into an incoherent collection of more than 1,000 courses. It was a chore for our students to navigate, and many thought it had little value beyond checking the box to graduate.

This is at the very heart of our mission. When the people of Texas created our University 150 years ago, remember that part about being a University of the first class? Well, there is a comma after that. It is “a University of the first class…for the promotion of literature, and the arts and sciences.” This is the first thing we must do well.

So, we gathered a broad group of faculty from a variety of fields to lead us through this work. I am so grateful for them. They committed countless hours to consider the purpose of the core curriculum, review the existing core, meet with faculty across the University, meet with students, and consult with scholars at other universities.

The charge was simple. We will produce 100,000 citizens over the next 10 years. What do we want them to know? There is so much behind that question.

How do you create trust in science? How do we build civil discourse? How do we cultivate discernment and judgment in a world where information is abundant, but wisdom is scarce? What is the foundation of a cultivated mind, that “guardian genius of democracy,” as President Lamar put it. And how do we deliver that at scale?

Our faculty answered the call. The new core is clear, focused, and rigorous — a foundational education. It is a broad and balanced set of classes in three areas: Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, and STEM. It gives every Longhorn a common learning experience and builds judgment and character, so that when they graduate, they will have a broad foundation, expertise in their major, and the electives they choose. It also prepares them for the modern world.

You will notice that one of the requirements in the new Core Curriculum is a foundational understanding of AI. Some say we are moving from an age of information to an age of intelligence. If that’s true, then we ought to be leaders in how to use AI, not afraid of it as a threat to how we teach and learn. If you believe that AI is going to change how we work, then we ought to be producing graduates who are prepared for the modern workplace. And we ought to be producing graduates who are prepared to be good citizens, good leaders, and good humans.

Now it is time to execute. I am announcing today that we will establish the University College to be the guardian of the Core Curriculum. The University College will be led by its inaugural Dean, Professor Devin Stauffer.

Professor Stauffer served as the leader of the Core Curriculum Task Force. He led this work with absolute excellence. He understands the mission of the Core, and he understands our University. I am grateful that Professor Stauffer has agreed to continue his service as the leader of the University College as we continue to develop the new Core.

As the guardian of the new core, the University College will work closely with our faculty across all of our colleges and schools to ensure that the Core provides a common learning experience for all of our students. It will include faculty committees to steward the three academic pillars. The college will have the governance, the authority, and the funding to deliver and sustain an outstanding Core. And I invite you, members of our faculty, to participate.

As the work continues to develop, there will undoubtedly be questions. We will keep you informed as we move forward. But I assure you that we will achieve this together. And we will achieve it with our culture of keeping the mission in focus, making informed decisions, and acting with resolve.

March to 2033

These are three major efforts happening at The University of Texas at Austin — putting patients at the center of health, putting the challenge at the center of research, and putting our students at the center of academics.

There are, of course, many more things going on at our University. We are building, modernizing, growing, teaching, learning, and discovering. We launched a new School of Computing this year. We named five outstanding new deans. We are elevating the arts while building the fastest supercomputer. We are investing in the humanities and advancing quantum technology and materials science.

We are restoring the main campus while building a new UT Dell Campus for Advanced Research and improving our observatory and marine science institute. And we are finally overhauling our financial system, which is older than the average age of our employees.

With this and more, the next six years will be a busy time. We have much work to do. Each of us has a role to play in this mission. This is the time to come together and serve others and serve the greater mission of the University of Texas. We have been given a great responsibility to serve as the flagship public university for the great state of Texas. This our time to do great things together.

And on the seventh year, we will celebrate. We are on the march toward September 15, 2033, the day that marks 150 years from the opening of the University of Texas. We will celebrate what a great university is and what it can become: a university that is both modernized and renewed. One UT that is ready to continue its legacy.

Hook ’em!