TYLER, Texas — The University of Texas System Board of Regents on Thursday officially appointed Dr. Julie V. Philley as the next UT Tyler president.
After meeting in executive session, the regents agreed to name Philley as the successor to retiring President Dr. Kirk Calhoun. This comes after she was named the finalist for the position in March and plans for an advisory committee to evaluate her as a candidate began.
“Dr. Philley is a highly respected health, academic, and community leader in Tyler. She is an East Texas native with a deep understanding of our region and its needs, and she played a front-line role in helping build UT Tyler’s health enterprise to what it is today,” said UT Board of Regents Chairman Kevin P. Eltife. “She has the trust and admiration of individuals within the university and throughout Tyler. I’ve witnessed her impact over the past twelve years, and we are confident she is ready to grow UT Tyler as a premier academic and health institution.”
Not only will Philley be UT Tyler's sixth president, she will become the university's first female president. Philley, an Overton native, is currently executive vice president for health affairs and vice provost at UT Tyler.
Calhoun announced in February he would retire on May 31. He has led UT Tyler since the university merged with UT Health Science Center at Tyler in 2021. He was president of UTHSCT since 2002, making him the longest-serving active president in the UT System, a university statement read.
She returned to East Texas in 2012 as an assistant professor of medicine at UT Health Tyler, where she continued research efforts in nontuberculous mycobacterial disease and bronchiectasis.
Philley has been instrumental in launching the UT Tyler School of Medicine, which is the UT System’s seventh medical school. She is also a physician who is board certified in pulmonary and critical care medicine.
“I am honored to be considered by the regents for this incredible opportunity, and I am committed to serving UT Tyler in any way possible to advance its important work,” Philley said at the time of being named a finalist.
Philley will begin her appointment on June 1, 2024.