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Shine Named Interim Chancellor of The University of Texas System

AUSTIN – Kenneth I. Shine, M.D., executive vice chancellor for health affairs at The University of Texas System, was appointed interim chancellor of the UT System today (April 1) by Regents’ Chairman H. Scott Caven, Jr.  The appointment is effective May 1.

Shine, a world-renowned cardiologist and physiologist with outstanding academic and medical credentials, will succeed UT System Chancellor Mark G. Yudof, who last week was named the president of the University of California system. 

“On behalf of the Board of Regents, I would like to express our gratitude to Dr. Shine for agreeing to accept this additional responsibility,” Caven said.  “As a senior member of Chancellor Yudof’s leadership team for the past four years, Dr. Shine is intimately knowledgeable about the UT System, its institutions and constituents.  His demonstrated achievements as an academician, physician and administrator make him a perfect choice to lead the UT System.  I am confident he and the executive staff will build upon the momentum of the past several years and continue to move the System forward during this time of transition.”

Shine joined the UT System in 2003.  In his current post, he oversees operations at the UT System’s six health institutions, which play a critical role in education, research and healthcare delivery in Texas. Collectively, the health institutions confer roughly three-fourths of all health-related degrees in Texas each year and deliver about $1.5 billion in health care to the state’s uninsured and underinsured patients.

Through the presidents of the health institutions, the executive vice chancellor has responsibility for academic planning and programs, budgets, facilities planning and construction, and personnel. UT System health institutions have a combined operating budget of $6.8 billion, nearly two-thirds of the System’s overall annual budget.

“I’m grateful to the Board of Regents for the opportunity to further serve The University of Texas System, which has benefited immeasurably from the remarkable leadership of Mark Yudof,” Shine said.  “I am delighted to work with a superb group of leaders in the UT System and I look forward to working closely with the presidents of the 15 institutions, our faculty, students, staff and supporters not only to maintain, but to accelerate our progress in developing knowledge; educating informed, literate and well-prepared students; enhancing creativity; improving health; and fostering economic development in the state. “

“A great university must be a center of learning which preserves and expands knowledge.  We are proud of the commitment of over 25 percent of UT System students to advancing science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine,” Shine added. “Leadership in these areas is essential to the standing and performance of our state and nation in a global environment.  But it is also essential that we expand our efforts in the social sciences, humanities, literature, languages and other disciplines of the institutions relevant to the human experience.”                             

Shine was president of the prestigious Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences from 1992 to 2002. Under his leadership, the institute played an important role in addressing key issues in medicine and health care. Reports by the institute on quality of care and patient safety heightened national awareness of these issues.

He started his academic career at the UCLA School of Medicine in 1971 as an assistant professor of medicine and director of the Coronary Care Unit. He became chief of cardiology in 1976, professor of medicine and executive chairman of the Department of Medicine in 1981, and was named dean and provost for health sciences in 1986.  Shine served as president of the American Heart Association in 1985-86 and was chair of the Council of Deans of the Association of American Medical Colleges in 1991-92.

Shine earned a bachelor's degree in biochemical sciences with highest honors from Harvard University and his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American College of Cardiology, as well as a master of the American College of Physicians. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 1988.

The UT System Board of Regents will conduct a national search for a permanent chancellor, the details of which will be announced at a later time.

Effective May 1, Yudof will become a special advisor to the interim chancellor.  He will serve in this capacity until his departure for the University of California, which is expected to be sometime this summer.

“Chancellor Yudof has served as a model of leadership and efficiency for the UT System since he arrived here nearly six years ago,” Caven said. “His unprecedented accomplishments have set a high-water mark for success for our system and institutions, and we will always be grateful for his contributions.”

About the University of Texas System
Serving the educational and health care needs of Texans for more than 125 years, the UT System is one of the nation's largest higher education systems with 15 campuses – including nine academic and six health institutions – and an annual operating budget of $10.7 billion (FY 2008). Student enrollment exceeded 194,000 in the 2007 academic year. The UT System confers one-third of the state's undergraduate degrees and educates three-fourths of Texas healthcare professionals. With more than 80,000 employees, the UT System is one of the largest employers in Texas.

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