The UNT System Board of Regents named V. Lane Rawlins as the sole finalist for the UNT presidency Nov. 12, approving UNT System Chancellor Lee Jackson's nomination of Rawlins.
The board's action begins the minimum 21-day period required by Texas law before the System regents can vote to officially appoint Rawlins to the UNT presidency. If confirmed by the board next month, Rawlins will become UNT's 15th president.
Rawlins, the former president of Washington State University and the University of Memphis, has been serving a one-year appointment as UNT's president since May 14, 2010, following Phil C. Diebel's brief service as UNT's interim president.
Read a message from Rawlins about his decision to accept the nomination.
Learn what Rawlins says is the best part about running a university.
The search for a new long-term UNT president was launched in April 2010 with the creation of Presidential Search Advisory Committee, which was composed of a broadly representative group of internal and external university stakeholders. The committee’s original goal, with the assistance of an executive search firm, was to make recommendations to the chancellor and UNTS Board of Regents prior to the board's regular meeting in February 2011.
While the search advisory committee had identified a pool of interested and highly qualified candidates, substantial internal and external support for Rawlins’ leadership and presidency moved Chancellor Jackson to recommend Rawlins during the board’s November meeting, rather than continue the search process. The committee informally endorses Rawlins’ nomination.