RICHARDSON, Texas (Sept. 16, 2004) – Former Dallas City Manager Teodoro J. “Ted” Benavides will join The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) in January as a faculty member in the School of Social Science’s Public Affairs Program.
Dr. Larry D. Terry, UTD executive vice provost for academic affairs, said Benavides would teach in the university’s Public Affairs degree program and work with faculty and administration colleagues to increase recognition of “this important new addition to UTD’s educational offerings.
“Mr. Benavides will be an outstanding addition to our public affairs team,” Terry said. “He will bring a wealth of real-world practical experience to UTD.”
Dr. James Murdoch, dean of the School of Social Sciences, said that in addition to his teaching responsibilities, Benavides would help with “public service outreach” at the local, state and national levels. The former city manager also will assist in preparing a proposal for creation of a center or an institute at UTD that will bring academics and practitioners together to enhance the performance of local governments and agencies, Murdoch said, and will play a key role in organizing events that facilitate “the interaction of UTD faculty members and students with the local public sector.”
Benavides, 53, who served as Dallas city manager from 1998 until earlier this year, said he was “very excited about joining the public affairs group at U. T. Dallas,” which he called “one of the top universities in the Southwest and a school that is beginning to garner a good bit of well-deserved national attention.”
“I think this will be a complete change from the rough-and-tumble political world of City Hall, and I am looking forward to this new stage in my life,” Benavides said.
During Benavides’ nearly six years as city manager of the eighth largest city in the United States – one of the few major cities with a strong-city-manager form of municipal government — he was responsible for administering all programs and services for the city’s 1.2 million people and overseeing a $1.9-billion municipal budget and directing a workforce of 13,000 employees.
From 1996 to 1998, Benavides was city manager of the City of Denton, and from 1990 to 1996, he served as one of five assistant city managers in Dallas. Previously, he held a number of other positions with the City of Dallas, including director of the Budget and Research Department, assistant director of the Health and Human Services Department, assistant director of capital programs, capital budget administrator and budget analyst. He joined the City of Dallas in March 1978.
Benavides, who served as an adjunct professor at UTD for two years in the early 1990’s, will be the second former city manager currently at UTD. Last year, Douglas Watson, who served as city manager of Auburn, Alabama, joined the university’s School of Social Sciences as a professor. Dean Murdoch said that with Benavides and Watson both in the school, Social Sciences hoped to be able to offer a master’s level specialization in local government management.
Benavides earned a bachelor’s degree in education, political science and history from Texas A&I University (now Texas A&M University-Kingsville) and a master’s degree in public administration from Southern Methodist University. He is also a graduate of both Leadership Dallas and the Executive Institute of the Texas Municipal League at the LBJ School of Public Affairs in Austin and is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, as is UTD’s Dr. Terry. Benavides serves on the b oard of directors of the National Forum of Black Public Administrators.
About UTD
The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor®, enrolls more than 14,000 students. The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UTD, please visit the university’s web site at www.utdallas.edu.