The University of Texas Board of Regents has named a finalist to replace outgoing UT Tyler President Dr. Rodney Mabry.
After interviewing candidates during its executive session on Tuesday, the board announced its lone finalist would be Dr. Michael V. Tidwell, the current Dean College of Business at Eastern Michigan Univeristy. The board must wait at least 21 days to vote to approve the finalist, per state law.
Mabry will retire after 18 years at the end of the current semester. His last official day is set for Dec. 31.
The new president will take over as UT Tyler is entering into a new 10-year plan for university growth, which Mabry helped develop.Since Mabry's 1998 hire, the school has seen attendance grow from 3,374 students to its current enrollment just shy of 10,000. By the end of the new 10-year plan, the school's population is expected to nearly double if current the growth rate remains steady.
Mabry’s impact, by the numbers
- Enrollment: Grew student body from 3,374 to 9,717
- Freshman class: First-year student enrollment grew from 99 to 767
- Faculty: Increased the number of full-time professors from 118 to 356
- Research funding: Raised research dollars from $71,300 to $12.5 million
- Academic programs: Added 10 bachelor's degree programs, 8 master's degrees and 4 doctoral programs
