Interim Chancellor/President Named

The University of Houston System Board of Regents has appointed John M. Rudley interim UH System chancellor and UH president, effective June 1.

Rudley, who previously held the position of UH System vice chancellor for administration and UH vice president for administration and finance, has a superb understanding of the budget and financing of our universities. He also has a solid commitment to moving us forward on our UH System strategic plan and UH’s newly adopted master plan.

Before joining UH System, he was vice president for business and finance at the Tennessee Board of Regents, the sixth-largest system of postsecondary education in the nation. A licensed certified public accountant in Tennessee, Rudley, also served as the senior technical advisor to the U.S. Department of Education and has held administration and finance-related positions in Tennessee and Texas. He acquired his public accounting experience from Coopers and Lybrand in Los Angeles and Seattle.

Rudley earned his B.B.A. from the University of Toledo and his M.Ed. in administration and supervision and his doctoral degree in administration from Tennessee State University. His wife, Docia, is a law professor at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University.

Jim McShan has been named interim UH System vice chancellor for administration and UH vice president for administration and finance. In keeping with tradition, the interim chancellor/president will not be a candidate for the full-time position.

Search Advisory Committee Named

Leroy Hermes, chair of the University of Houston System Board of Regents, announced the formation of a Search Advisory Committee to conduct the national search for a new UH System chancellor and University of Houston president.

“This is one of the most important roles of the Board of Regents: identifying and recruiting a visionary leader to take the UH System and the University of Houston into their rightful place among the foremost urban university systems and national research universities. The Search Advisory Committee will be invaluable in helping to bring outstanding candidates to the board,” Hermes says.

“We hope to complete our search during the fall semester with an ambitious goal of bringing the new chancellor/president on board by January 2008,” he adds.

Search Advisory Committee

Leroy Hermes ('66), UH System Regent, Committee Chair
Mike Cemo ('68), UH System Regent, Committee Vice Chair
Carol Barr ('81), UH Department of English Business Manager and Staff Council President
Max Castillo, UH-Downtown President
Chloe Diepenbrock, UH-Clear Lake Associate Professor of Human Sciences and Humanities and Faculty Senate President
Ted Estess, UH Honors College Dean
David Francis (M.A. '84, Ph.D. '85), UH Professor of Psychology
Liz Ghrist ('67), Former UH System Regent and Houston Alumni Organization Board of Directors Chair
Joseph Kotarba, UH Professor of Sociology and Faculty Senate President
Ramanan Krishnamoorti, UH Professor of Chemical Engineering
Suzanne LaBrecque, UH-Victoria Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Sam Quintero ('70, O.D. '72), UH Associate Professor of Optometry
Michael Rierson, UH System Vice Chancellor/UH Vice President for University Advancement
Beth Robertson, Former UH System Regent and Cockspur, Inc. President
Lynden Rose ('83, J.D. '89), UH System Regent
David Rosen, UH Student Government Association President
Dr. H. Dirk Sostman, The Methodist Hospital Chief Academic Officer and Chief Medical Officer
Jim Wise ('66), UH System Regent
Melvyn Wolff ('53), Star Furniture Board Chair

The committee will be assisted by Dona G. Hamilton, vice chancellor and vice president for legal affairs and general counsel, and by David P. Bell, assistant vice chancellor and assistant vice president for academic and faculty affairs. Peggy Cervenka and Gerry Mathisen will serve as executive administrator and assistant administrator, respectively.

You may submit recommendations for the chancellor/president position to the Search Advisory Committee by contacting R. William Funk, search consultant, at krisha.creal@rwilliamfunk.com.

Public Policy Center Examines Taser Use

The UH Center for Public Policy (CPP) is studying how the use of Taser electric stun guns has affected the Houston community and its police officers.

“Among other things, we’ll look at whether Houston Police Department (HPD) officers are discharging the Tasers on any populations disproportionately and whether the cause is combative and dangerous behavior or profiling,” says Jim Granato, CPP director. “We’ll also look at whether or not Tasers have reduced serious injuries to suspects and officers by giving officers an alternate way to approach combative suspects.”

Researchers will look at data from the nearly 1,000 times a Taser has been discharged since the policy was implemented in December 2004. They’ll examine the actions leading up to the use of the Taser, the neighborhoods where Tasers were used as well as the demographic characteristics of the officers and the people who were shocked.

CPP is working collaboratively with Sam Houston State University researchers, who are examining HPD’s policies and procedures on the use of Tasers and officer training.

The study, which is commissioned by the city of Houston and overseen by the city controller’s office, will be completed by the end of summer.

For the latest news from UH, visit www.uh.edu/newsroom.