AUSTIN – The members of a search advisory committee charged with the responsibility of interviewing candidates for the next president of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston were announced today (March 22) by UT System Board of Regents’ Chairman Gene Powell.

The advisory committee will recommend a list of potential candidates – unranked – for the Board of Regents to consider. The Board is anticipated to name a finalist or finalists by September. The next president of the institution will succeed Interim President and Dean of the Medical School Giuseppe N. Colasurdo, M.D., who assumed the top leadership position last year after Larry R. Kaiser, M.D., stepped down from the post.

“The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston is recognized as a premiere comprehensive academic health science center and plays an integral role in educating future generations of doctors and health professionals, conducting vital research and serving the health care needs of Texas, the nation and the world,” Regents’ Chairman Gene Powell said. “Choosing the institution’s next president is one of this board’s most important responsibilities. I am very confident the individuals appointed to the search advisory committee will do an outstanding job of identifying the very best candidates for the Board to consider. On behalf of the Board, I extend our sincere gratitude to each of the committee members for agreeing to serve in this important role as the search begins in earnest for the next president of this fine institution,” Powell added.

The committee membership is made in accordance with the Board of Regents’ Rules and Regulations, which includes a provision for representation on such committees by various constituencies of the institution.

The committee will be chaired by Kenneth I. Shine, M.D., executive vice chancellor for health affairs in the UT System.  Other advisory committee members are:

• Regent Robert L. Stillwell of Houston, principal, TBP Investments Management, LLC and BP Capital, L.P.; Regent Stillwell chairs the Board’s Health Affairs Committee
• Regent Brenda Pejovich of Dallas, president, Brenda Pejovich Group LLC; Regent Pejovich chairs the Board’s Audit, Compliance and Management Review Committee
• David L. Callender, M.D., president, UT Medical Branch at Galveston
• Ronald DePinho, M.D., president, UT M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
• Giuseppe N. Colasurdo, M.D., interim president and dean of the medical school, UT Health Science Center - Houston
• Thomas R. Cole, Ph.D., professor and director, The John P. McGovern, M.D. Center for Health, Humanities and the Human Spirit, UT Health Science Center - Houston
• Patricia Dolan Mullen, DrPh., professor, health programs and behavioral sciences, UT Health Science Center - Houston
• Donald A. Molony, M.D., professor, internal medicine and renal diseases, UT Health Science Center - Houston
• Stephen A. Herrmann, a third-year medical school student and vice president of the Student Intercouncil, UT Health Science Center - Houston
• Melisa Frisby, president of the School of Nursing Alumni Association, UT Health Science Center - Houston
• Michael D. Dixon, compliance coordinator and vice chair of the University Classified Staff Council, UT Health Science Center - Houston

Community representatives are:

• Daniel J. Wolterman, president and CEO, Memorial Hermann Healthcare System
• Guillermina Lozano, Ph.D., chair, department of genetics, UT M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
• Wilhelmina “Beth” E. Robertson of Houston, president, Cockspur, Inc.
• Jodie Jiles of Houston, managing director, RBC Capital Markets
• Fred S. Zeidman, chair, UT Health Science Center - Houston Development Board
• Monica Rasmus, DrPh. , president, School of Public Health Alumni Association, UT Health Science Center – Houston, and assistant professor, Texas Southern University
• Mike Loya of Houston, director, Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and president, Vitol

Russell Reynolds Associates, an executive search firm, is assisting the UT System in the national search and advertisements for the position will be placed in publications so the committee may carry out its search as expeditiously as possible.

About The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) is home to schools of biomedical informatics, biomedical sciences, dentistry, medicine, nursing and public health. UTHealth educates more healthcare professionals than any health-related institution in the State of Texas and features the nation’s seventh-largest medical school. It also includes a psychiatric hospital and a growing network of clinics throughout the region. The university’s primary teaching hospitals include Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital and Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital. Founded in 1972 by the UT System Board of Regents, UTHealth’s 10,000-plus faculty, staff, students and residents are committed to delivering innovative solutions that create the best hope for a healthier future.

About The University of Texas System

Educating students, providing care for patients, conducting groundbreaking research and serving the needs of Texans and the nation for more than 130 years, the University of Texas System is one of the largest public university systems in the United States, with nine academic universities and six health science centers. Preliminary student enrollment exceeded 215,000 in the 2011 academic year. The UT System confers more than one-third of the state's undergraduate degrees and educates nearly three-fourths of the state's health care professionals annually. The UT System has an annual operating budget of $13.1 billion (FY 2012) including $2.3 billion in sponsored programs funded by federal, state, local and private sources. With roughly 87,000 employees, the UT System is one of the largest employers in the state.

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