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University of Texas at Austin's Outgoing Leader Takes at Job in Houston

Posted on: Friday, 9 September 2005, 18:00 CDT

Sep. 9--Larry Faulkner, who has presided over the University of Texas at Austin for the past seven years, will be nominated as the next chief executive of the Houston Endowment, the state's largest foundation announced Thursday.

The endowment's governing board is expected to confirm Faulkner in short order, allowing him to start his new job in February. The opportunity comes two months after the respected chemist announced his intention to leave the Austin campus by the end of this academic year.

Other universities and foundations approached Faulkner, but he found a match in the Houston Endowment, which formerly owned the Houston Chronicle and provided more than $67 million in scholarships and other charitable donations last year.

"The Houston Endowment is smaller in scope than UT-Austin, but the activity is large," said Faulkner, who will sign a five-year contract. "It is extremely important to the education scene, the arts scene and the medical scene in Greater Houston."

Faulkner, 60, would replace H. Joe Nelson III, who resigned in February after serving 15 years as the foundation's president. Chief Financial Officer Sheryl Johns filled the post in the interim.

The endowment, which the late Houston financier and Chronicle publisher Jesse H. Jones and his wife, Mary Gibbs Jones, founded in 1937, has assets of about $1.5 billion.

D. Kent Anderson, chairman of the endowment's board, said Faulkner impressed him with his intellect, political savvy and seemingly high level of energy.

Although the foundation does not raise money, Anderson pointed to Faulkner's ability to raise more than $1.6 billion at UT-Austin as a sign of a strong leader.

The university launched a billion-dollar capital campaign in 1997 and reached its goal within five years.

By the time the effort ended last year, it had raised more than $1.6 billion, the largest amount by an American university without a medical school.

Faulkner, who received $488,000 in annual salary and benefits, also sought academic excellence for UT-Austin while promoting a diverse student body.

If all goes as planned, he will leave the Austin campus earlier than expected. But James Huffines, chairman of the UT System's board, said he expects to name a new president for the 50,000-student campus by the end of the year.

"Austin's loss is definitely Houston's gain," Huffines said.

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Source: Houston Chronicle

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