Welcome to a new academic year! I hope the summer provided you an occasion for respite, time with family and friends, and renewal for the semester ahead.
To the newest members of our faculty, let me extend a special welcome to UT. Nearly 150 of you gathered last week for our 2026 New Faculty Launch, where President Davis and I had the privilege of introducing you to our University. To our returning faculty, welcome back to the Forty Acres.
As I shared in my remarks to the new faculty, the Oxford literary scholar C.S. Lewis described the university as "a society for the pursuit of learning." That elegantly distills our calling as faculty. We are a community of scholars dedicated to learning. This means cultivating learning through teaching our students, promoting learning in our fields through our research, and sharing the fruits of our learning with our state, nation, and world.
UT is in an auspicious time of growth. Our new School of Computing builds on our many strengths in computer science, information, statistics, and data sciences. The Cockrell School has launched a new undergraduate program in materials science and engineering. And the historic commitment from Michael and Susan Dell is helping establish the UT Dell Medical Center and UT Dell Campus for Advanced Research, creating unprecedented possibilities for research, education, and patient care.
We have welcomed new deans for our McCombs School of Business, Jackson School of Geosciences, and College of Education, and will be announcing more new deans in the days and weeks ahead.
We are also undertaking one of the most significant changes to undergraduate education at UT in decades. Following an extensive faculty-led review, President Davis recently announced a new Core Curriculum designed to provide every undergraduate with a rigorous and balanced academic foundation, and a common learning experience. Our faculty will play an essential role in bringing this curriculum to life in the coming years.
These are significant developments, but we have more to accomplish together.
UT became one of the world’s great research universities because generations of faculty built it into one. They set high standards, engaged in consequential scholarship, taught and mentored students, and relentlessly pursued excellence. We inherit the benefits of their work, and we also inherit the stewardship to carry it forward.
This year, several faculty-led efforts will help us examine and address some particular challenges to our academic mission. Specifically, forthcoming faculty task forces will address AI and pedagogy; grade inflation and academic standards; academic freedom and integrity; and unnecessary administrative burdens — the lamented “burnt orange tape” — that can impede teaching, research, and service. You will be hearing more from these task forces throughout the year.
