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Message Announcing JuliAnn Mazachek, Ph.D., as MSU Texas President

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March 28, 2022

Dear Texas Tech University System family,

Today marks a historic occasion for Midwestern State University. We have come to the end of the state-required, 21-day period between our sole finalist announcement and the formal appointment for the MSU Texas presidency. With that period concluded, it’s my pleasure and privilege to announce JuliAnn Mazachek, Ph.D., as the 12th president of MSU Texas.

This great university is at a powerful point in its 100-year history. With many accomplishments over the last century and an ambitious set of goals on the horizon, MSU Texas has so much positive momentum in its favor, and I feel Dr. Mazachek will only bolster the excellence it continues to achieve. She brings tremendous, well-rounded expertise in higher education, and I know she will help guide and lead MSU Texas into its next chapter.

Dr. Mazachek has nearly three decades of experience at every level of academia, which includes her time as a dean, CEO and president of a university foundation, tenured faculty member, vice president and chief academic officer. She is a person of genuine integrity and a leader who is respected and admired by colleagues, community members and peers throughout higher education. Most of all, she is a long-time, passionate advocate of the liberal arts and believes deeply in the MSU Texas values-based culture.

I want to thank James Johnston, Ph.D., for his leadership as interim president, a role he will continue until Dr. Mazachek’s arrival following spring commencement. We are grateful for Dr. Johnston’s dedication to the university community, and we are committed to a smooth and successful transition aligning with the completion of the spring semester. Accordingly, Dr. Mazachek will finish the academic semester in her current role at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, and she will begin her duties as president on Monday, May 23.

Between now and then, Dr. Mazachek plans to make trips to Wichita Falls and the campus, and I hope many of you will have an opportunity to meet and engage with her in the weeks and months ahead.

This is a proud moment for MSU Texas and the Mustangs family, and I congratulate President JuliAnn Mazachek and welcome her and her husband, Keith, to the Texas Tech University System family. The university and broader Wichita Falls communities have much to look forward to in the years ahead, and we look forward to celebrating these successes together.