Larry R. Faulkner became the 27th president of The University of Texas at Austin in April 1998. Nearly 30 years earlier he had received his Ph.D. in chemistry from UT and has closely followed the academic development of his alma mater.

"After a journey of a hundred years, The University of Texas at Austin has arrived in the small circle of America's best institutions of higher education and research," he says. "It is indeed a university of the first class--a public asset of inestimable value. We can and should take great pride in this achievement."

As president, Faulkner is focusing on UT's enormous potential to enhance the state's growth, productivity, and quality of life at the beginning of the new century. "My goal for The University of Texas is that we do the best complete job of serving the real needs of the people of Texas and the nation."

He has developed an ambitious agenda to take UT to "the head of the class."

"I believe Texas can have a role in defining the nation's agenda over the next 20 years, comparable to that which California and the East Coast have had since the end of the Second World War," Faulkner says. "Because of its size, newly diversified economy, and proximity to developing markets in Latin America, Texas has the potential for a voice of extraordinary scale. But if Texas is to seize its opportunity, it must have consistent access to intellectual capital of top quality. Never has the state needed a university of the first class more than now.

"During the next two years--the millennial transition of 2000 and 2001--we'll focus on building strength and improving effectiveness," he says, "but we'll also concentrate on changes that may occur in Texas over the next two decades and determine how the University can best serve those needs."

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