The University Leadership Council is composed of key university leadership stakeholders and chairs of Interfaculty Council, Student InterCouncil, and University Classified Staff Council. The University Leadership Council serves as a forum for strategic planning and the bidirectional communication of ideas and information between the university and the faculty, students and staff in the schools and other operating units of the university.
University Leadership Council Membership
Alejandro Aballay, PhD
Dean, MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
William Adcox, MBA
Chief, UT Police Department
Zhiqiang An, PhD
Vice President, Drug Discovery
Richard J. Andrassy, MD
Senior Vice President, Clinical and Faculty Affairs
Eric Boerwinkle, PhD
Dean, School of Public Health
Kara Crawford, MPA
Vice President, Governmental Relations
Brian Dean, MBA, MPH
Executive Vice President, Health Affairs
Mary Dickerson, MBA
Associate Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer
Kevin Dillon, MBA, CPA
Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Bob Emery, DrPH
Vice President, Safety, Health, Environment, and Risk Management
María E. Fernández, PhD
Vice President, Population Health and Implementation Science
Scott Forbes
Senior Vice President, Governmental Relations
Kevin Foyle, MBA, CFRE
Senior Vice President, Development and Public Affairs
John Hancock, MA, MB, BChir, PhD, ScD
Senior Vice President, Research Strategy and Innovation
Executive Dean, McGovern Medical School
Rose Hochner Nelson, MBA
Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communication and Chief of Staff to the President
Holly M. Holmes, MD, MS
Vice President, Community Engagement
Cynthia Huehlefeld
Interim Chief Operating Officer, UT Physicians
Kurt Kasper, PhD
FY26 Interfaculty Council Representative
LaTanya J. Love, MD
Interim President
Julie Lucas
Associate Vice President, Facilities, Planning, Engineering, and Auxiliary Enterprises
Kevin Morano, PhD
Senior Vice President, Academic and Faculty Affairs
Jagat Narula, MD, PhD
Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer
Viana Phan
FY26 Student InterCouncil President
Melissa Pifko, JD
Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer
Laura Rademacher
FY26 UCSC Representative
Natalia Sanchez, MD
Student Health Medical Director
FY26 Safety Council Representative
Diane M. Santa Maria, DrPH, MSN, RN
Dean, Cizik School of Nursing
Dan Sherman, MBA
Vice President and Chief Audit Officer
Jair Soares, MD, PhD
Vice President, Behavioral Sciences
Dean, UTHealth Houston School of Behavioral Health Sciences
Executive Director, UTHealth Houston Behavioral Sciences Campus
Robert D. Spears, PhD, MS
FY26 Academic Council Representative
Karen Spillar, JD
Vice President, Human Resources and Chief Human Resources Officer
Mike Tramonte, MBA, CPA
Senior Vice President, Finance and Business Services and Chief Financial Officer
John A. Valenza, DDS
Dean, School of Dentistry
Amar Yousif, MBA
Vice President and Chief Information Officer
Jiajie Zhang, PhD
Dean, McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics