Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson Named as the Next Leader of the University of Texas at El Paso

The board of regents of the University of Texas has selected Heather Wilson as the sole finalist for the position of president of the University of Texas at El Paso. Under state law, there is a 21-day waiting period after the selection of a finalist before the board can officially name her to the position. If granted final approval, she will begin her new role at the university in September.

The University of Texas at El Paso enrolls more than 21,000 undergraduate students and nearly 2,000 graduate students. Women make up 53 percent of the undergraduate student body.

Since May 2017, Dr. Wilson has been Secretary of the United States Air Force. Earlier in her career, she was president of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. From 1998 to 2009, Dr. Wilson served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Mexico.

Dr. Wilson is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. She earned master’s and doctoral degrees in international relations at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.