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Gregory L. Fenves

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Greg Fenves
21st President of Emory University
Assumed office
August 1, 2020
Preceded byClaire E. Sterk
29th President of the University of Texas at Austin
In office
June 3, 2015 – June 30, 2020
Preceded byWilliam Powers Jr.
Succeeded byJay Hartzell
Personal details
Born (1957-03-01) March 1, 1957 (age 67)
Champaign, Illinois, U.S.
EducationCornell University (BS)
University of California, Berkeley (MS, PhD)
WebsiteOfficial website

Gregory Louis Fenves (born March 1, 1957) is an American engineer and academic who is the 21st president of Emory University. He previously served as the President of the University of Texas at Austin from 2015 to 2020.[1]

Fenves was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2014 for contributions to computational modeling, creation of open source software for earthquake engineering analysis, and academic leadership.[2]

Education and career

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Fenves was educated at Cornell University where he received a bachelor's degree (BS) in engineering with distinction in 1979 and was a member of the Quill and Dagger society.[3] He went on to earn a master's degree (MSE) in 1980 and a PhD in 1984 from the University of California, Berkeley.

He began his career as an assistant professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at UT Austin from 1984 to 1987. He was on the faculty of UC Berkeley for more than 20 years and served as chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering from 2002 to 2007.

In 2008, he was appointed as the eighth dean of the Cockrell School of Engineering at UT Austin and served in that capacity for five years. From 2013 to 2015, he was appointed to the role as executive vice president and provost of UT Austin.  Fenves then served as the twenty-ninth president of UT Austin from June 2015 to June 2020.

On April 7, 2020, it was announced that Fenves would become the twenty-first president of Emory University, a position he assumed on August 1, 2020.[4]

The University of Texas at Austin

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In 2015, his administration successfully defended UT Austin's admissions practices before the US Supreme Court.[5] The landmark ruling in the Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin case enabled UT Austin to continue using race as a factor in its admissions process.[5]

Fenves was instrumental in the founding of UT Austin's Dell Medical School — the first medical school in nearly 50 years to be built from the ground up at a top-tier research university — which opened in 2016 [6] and graduated its inaugural class of physicians in 2020.[7]

In 2017 Fenves received the "Guardian of the Human Spirit" award from Holocaust Museum Houston.[8] In 2018, he received the "Hope for Humanity" award from the Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education & Tolerance.[9] During the acceptance speeches for both awards, Fenves discussed his family's history of loss and survival during the holocaust.

In 2018, UT Austin posted the highest four-year graduation rates in the university's history, 69.8%, an increase of over 17 percentage points since 2012.[10]

In 2018, Fenves introduced the Texas Advance Commitment to increase affordability by providing assured financial aid for low- and middle-income UT Austin students.[11] In 2019, the UT System Board of Regents approved additional funding from the Permanent University Fund,[12] which now ensures full tuition coverage at The University of Texas at Austin for in-state students with need from families earning up to $65,000 per year and some guaranteed support for those from families earning up to $125,000 per year. In 2020, the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation made a historic gift of $100 million to expand resources and support for all Pell Grant eligible students at UT Austin.[13]

In October 2019, students protested outside the provost's office, calling for more transparency and accountability when the university responds to alleged sexual misconduct violations.[14] A month later, in a letter to the UT community, the university said it would hire “outside experts” to support efforts to address the issue.[15] UT Austin subsequently formed a working group and hired an external law firm, Husch Blackwell, to review the university's sexual misconduct policies and its efforts to prevent and respond to allegations of sex discrimination. The firm concluded the first phase of its review and delivered recommendations, which Fenves accepted in March. Husch Blackwell continued its review and in July provided the university with additional recommendations.[16][17][18]

Fenves conceived of a unique public-private partnership, which led to the construction of UT Austin's new basketball arena and events venue — now known as Moody Center, because of a $130 million gift from the Moody Foundation — which opened in late 2022.[19]

On April 7, 2020, it was announced that Fenves would be leaving the University of Texas at Austin to become the president of Emory University, succeeding outgoing president Claire E. Sterk.[20][21]

Emory University

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On April 25, 2024, students in a protest encampment for the Stop Cop City movement and in solidarity with Palestinians were confronted by the Emory police, the Atlanta Police Department, and Georgia State Patrol. Police used chemical irritants and tasers on students, faculty, staff, and community members, and arrested 28 people. Those detained included Professors Noelle McAfee, the Chair of the Philosophy Department, Emil' Keme, and Caroline Fohlin, who was thrown to the ground by Emory Police.[22][23][24] In several public statements, Fenves erroneously claimed that the protests comprised outside agitators, a claim that appears to be false based on witnesses present at the protests.[25] A day after these events, on April 26, faculty of Oxford College of Emory University passed a resolution to call for a vote of no confidence in Fenves and other senior administrators, and the Emory College faculty senate also moved to vote no confidence.[26] On May 3, the Emory College of Arts and Sciences faculty voted 358–119 that they do not have confidence in Fenves.[27]

Personal life

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Fenves' family is Jewish, and multiple members of his father's side are Holocaust survivors, including his father, aunt, some cousins, and his grandfather.[28]

References

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  1. ^ "Leaving UT This Summer". April 7, 2020.
  2. ^ "Four UT Austin Engineers Elected to National Academy". UT News. February 6, 2014. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  3. ^ "UT presidential finalist Gregory Fenves praised on campus, but some regents are skeptical". Dallas Morning News. March 27, 2015. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
  4. ^ "Emory Board of Trustees names Gregory L. Fenves as 21st president". news.emory.edu. April 7, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  5. ^ a b Liptak, Adam (June 23, 2016). "Supreme Court Upholds Affirmative Action Program at University of Texas". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
  6. ^ Flores, Nancy (May 21, 2019). "Dell Medical School reflects on first 5 years, sets new goals". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  7. ^ Andu, Naomi (May 22, 2020). "After an "anticlimactic" virtual goodbye, Dell Medical School's inaugural class heads to the front lines of the pandemic". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  8. ^ Sokolove, Sofia (November 3, 2017). "President Fenves Honored by Holocaust Museum Houston". The Alcalde. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  9. ^ "Dallas Holocaust Museum to Honor University of Texas at Austin President Gregory L. Fenves at Hope for Humanity Dinner". The Dallas Weekly. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  10. ^ Menchaca, Megan (September 28, 2018). "UT-Austin's four-year graduation rate reaches all-time high, despite failing 2012 goal". The Daily Texan. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
  11. ^ Jankowski, Philip (July 9, 2019). "Attend UT for free? After Tuesday vote, 21% of undergrads could". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  12. ^ Friedman, Zack (July 11, 2019). "University Of Texas Announces Tuition-Free College Program". Forbes. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  13. ^ "How UT, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation are collaborating to support students of Texas". UT News. May 1, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  14. ^ Ramirez, Marco (October 25, 2019). "UT students protest over professors' reported sexual misconduct allegations". KXAN. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  15. ^ Korte, Lara (November 7, 2019). "UT to hire outside experts to analyze sexual misconduct procedures". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  16. ^ "Sexual Misconduct". UT News. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  17. ^ "Changing Sexual Misconduct Policies at UT Austin". Office of the President. March 2, 2020. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  18. ^ "Husch Blackwell Update - July 8". The University of Texas. Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  19. ^ Barden, Melanie (December 3, 2019). "UT breaks ground on new basketball arena, the Moody Center". KEYE. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  20. ^ Najmabadi, Shannon (April 7, 2020). "UT-Austin President Greg Fenves leaving Texas flagship for Emory University, source says". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  21. ^ "Emory Welcomes its Next President". executivesearch.emory.edu. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  22. ^ Hughes, Rosana; Abusaid, Shaddi; Dalton, Martha; Silva, Caroline. "Protesters, police back at Emory hours after arrests". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ISSN 1539-7459. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
  23. ^ "Emory Philosophy Department chair arrested in protests was concerned police presence would cause 'bedlam and mayhem'". April 26, 2024.
  24. ^ "Attorney says economics professor arrested during Emory protest 'was not a protester'".
  25. ^ Kaur, Harmeet (April 27, 2024). "Examining the long history of the 'outside agitator' narrative". CNN. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
  26. ^ "Faculty senate of Emory college calls for no-confidence vote for president". ajc. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
  27. ^ https://emorywheel.com/emory-college-faculty-vote-no-confidence-in-fenves/
  28. ^ Haurwitz, Ralph K. M. "UT's Fenves tells new U.S. citizens of his family's Holocaust history". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
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