Regents to consider Julie V. Philley, MD, as a finalist for presidency of UT Tyler

AUSTIN, TEXAS – Following a special called meeting of the University of Texas System Board of Regents today, Chairman Kevin P. Eltife announced a unanimous vote to name Julie V. Philley, MD – currently executive vice president for health affairs and vice provost at the University of Texas at Tyler – as a finalist to be considered for UT Tyler’s next presidency, succeeding President Kirk A. Calhoun, MD, who will retire at the end of May.

The Board of Regents typically conducts a national search and appoints a presidential search advisory committee to recommend a slate of presidential candidates for consideration, but the Board may also use an alternative process through Regents’ Rule 20201, Section 1.9.  The Rule allows regents to name a finalist from within the UT System, providing the board chairman authority to appoint a special committee to offer advice and an evaluation of the finalist for the regents’ consideration. Eltife plans to name the committee soon.

“Julie Philley is a native East Texan who continues to excel as an administrator, practicing physician and researcher since her arrival to campus in 2012,” Eltife said. “Dr. Philley is deeply engaged with and highly regarded in the Tyler and East Texas medical, education, and civic communities for making transformative advancements at UTT, and I believe her trusted leadership would allow UTT to accelerate its work seamlessly. The regents and I will look forward to hearing the committee’s evaluation of Dr. Philley’s candidacy,” added Eltife.

Philley, a physician who is board certified in pulmonary and critical care medicine, played an instrumental role in launching the UT Tyler School of Medicine – the UT System’s seventh medical school, which welcomed its first cohort to campus last fall. She has served as UTT’s executive vice president for health affairs since UT Tyler and the UT Health Science Center at Tyler merged to create a single, integrated university in 2021, and added the role of vice provost in 2022. Previously, she was chair of the Department of Medicine and professor of medicine at the UT Health Science Center at Tyler.

Philley is a native of Overton, Texas – located just 20 miles outside of Tyler – and 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. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Texas Woman’s University and studied medicine at UT Health Houston’s McGovern Medical School, completing an internal medicine residency program at Johns Hopkins University/Sinai Hospital and a fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Dallas.

“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,” said Philley.