Jay Hartzell didn’t set out to leave the University of Texas’ flagship campus for a smaller private college near downtown Dallas. But after SMU board members began aggressively recruiting him for their soon-to-be-vacant president job,

Hartzell has served as UT's president since 2020. Before then, he was the dean of the McCombs School of Business. SMU's Board of Trustees unanimously named Hartzell president, the school announced Tuesday morning.

Hartzell leaves UT-Austin after four years of tense political battles and legislative efforts to implement a more conservative vision of public higher ed.