Colleagues and Friends:
It was 45 years ago when I first put chalk on a blackboard — that’s how we did it back then — to teach a math course on complex variables. In the years that have followed, I have enjoyed many rewards as a university educator and administrator. The pinnacle of my career has been the opportunity to serve as the president of The University of Texas at Dallas. What a privilege it has been to lead this dynamic, fast-rising university!
Reflecting on all that has been accomplished over the last eight years, and all that has been set in motion, I feel that this is a good time to pass the leadership of UT Dallas to a new president, and I am grateful that Chancellor J.B. Milliken has accepted my decision. The UT System Board of Regents will soon launch a search for my successor, which could take the better part of the 2025 academic year. With Chancellor Milliken’s agreement, I will continue my service until our new president is ready to begin their term.
Although my time as president draws to a close, I will continue to be a proud member of the UT Dallas faculty, and I hope that there may yet be other ways for me to contribute to the life of this university. I still have a fine set of lecture notes for complex variables!
I also intend to “pay it forward” as UT Dallas’ fourth president, David E. Daniel, so graciously did for me. I will give our new president all the space that they need to establish their vision and get off to a fast start. If called upon, I will provide any requested service.
I also acknowledge the collective gift awaiting our sixth president, a gift provided by you, the faculty, staff, and students of UT Dallas. Thanks to your superb work, our new president will inherit a university with near-record enrollment numbers, record levels of research activity, record levels of community engagement, a record endowment, and its highest rankings and reputational scores.
Most importantly, UT Dallas produces highly knowledgeable graduates, two-thirds of whom go on to live and work in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. In short, we are doing exactly what our daring founders envisioned for the future UT Dallas when the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest was created in 1961.
Looking ahead, our new president will find a home on one of the nation’s most beautiful campuses, a campus enriched by modern, state-of-the-art facilities … from residence halls … to classrooms … to laboratories … to offices … to study spaces … to sporting venues … and to places where the principal attribute is artistry.
In this last category, I think, of course, of UT Dallas’ developing arts and performance district, the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum. Look for me there in the future, in quiet contemplation of the awe-inspiring art, the awe-inspiring music, and the awe-inspiring people who make up UT Dallas.
So, let me finish as I began. I am deeply grateful for the privilege of serving as UT Dallas’ fifth president, and I thank you all for making this a labor of love. It will be fun to see what comes next for UT Dallas!
Sincerely,
Dr. Richard C. Benson
President
Eugene McDermott Distinguished University Chair of Leadership