TYLER, Texas — UT Tyler President Dr. Kirk A. Calhoun announced on Tuesday he will be retiring from his office in May after serving a combined 22 years as president of UT Tyler and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler.
The university said in a new release that Calhoun will retire on May 31.
“Jeanette and I arrived in Tyler when I was appointed as the new president of the UT Health Science Center at Tyler at age 49, some 22 years ago,” Calhoun said. “I was especially honored to be the inaugural president of the combined UT Tyler/UTHSCT. This has been a most unusual, incredibly lengthy, and joyous span of service for a public university president.”
He has led UT Tyler since the university merged with UTHSCT in 2021. He was president of UTHSCT since 2002, making him the longest-serving active president in the UT System, according to a news release.
“On behalf of the Board of Regents, I express gratitude to President Calhoun for his leadership during a remarkable period of growth of our health enterprise and the union of our academic and health institutions in Tyler. We hope he'll reflect on his long and successful tenure with great satisfaction,” said Kevin P. Eltife, UT System chairman of the Board of Regents.
During his tenure at UT Tyler, the university has experienced record enrollment growth, historic philanthropic giving and the launch of the first school of medicine in East Texas. The $308 million UT Tyler Medical Education Building is set to open in 2025 as home to UT Tyler’s School of Medicine.
The university said the process to find the next UT Tyler president, which includes appointing a committee to advise UT System Chancellor J.B. Milliken and the Board of Regents, will be led by Eltife.
Eltife, a Tyler native who previously served as the city's mayor, has extensive knowledge and decades-long leadership that resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in state and regents' support to the university.