Two major UT System institutions face leadership changes as their presidents stepped down in recent days.
On Monday, UT Arlington president Jennifer Cowley announced plans to return to the faculty. Last week, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center president Peter Pisters announced his retirement after more than three decades at the University of Texas System’s health institution.
Cowley told the campus community in a letter that it was “the right time to return to the work that first drew me to higher education” after four and a half years as the university’s first woman president.
Her announcement came about two weeks after the fall semester began. Cowley, a professor of public affairs and planning, did not say when she will step down.
Chancellor John Zerwas said in a statement that he will announce succession plans soon. The UT System regents appoint presidents of the system’s institutions.
Cowley, an Arlington native and former University of North Texas provost, took office in 2022 after UTA had been led by an interim president for nearly two years.
In her letter, Cowley touted UTA’s record fall 2025 freshman class, an expansion of tuition assistance for Texas undergraduates, investments in research faculty and progress toward UTA West, a planned 51-acre campus in Parker County scheduled to open in 2028.
UTA officials said the university enrolled more than 5,100 first-time-in-college students that fall, the largest freshman class in its 130-year history.
Earlier this year, Cowley publicly described the financial pressures facing UTA, including Gov. Greg Abbott’s statewide tuition freeze and federal immigration policy changes that made it harder to recruit international students, who often pay higher tuition.
To meet budget needs, she launched a voluntary separation program that offered incentives and through which more than 200 longtime employees retired. Cowley also announced that UTA would discontinue, consolidate or revamp several degree programs affecting about 200 students.
In Houston, Pisters retired after 32 years with the cancer center, including nine as president.
Pisters, who said he was the only faculty member to become MD Anderson president, will work with interim President Jeffrey Lee through the end of September. Lee, a surgical oncologist and longtime MD Anderson executive, took over on Aug. 26.
MD Anderson officials have said Lee will lead the cancer center “over the next several years” but did not announce a search for a permanent president. Center officials credited Pisters with launching a $10 billion capital expansion plan and a $2.5 billion fundraising campaign that has raised $2.16 billion so far.
The UT System oversees nine academic institutions and four health institutions, enrolling more than 270,000 students and operating on a $36.6 billion budget, according to the system’s website.
The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.
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