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University Of Houston Snags Khator From USF

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By Adam Emerson of The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 15, 2007

TAMPA - University of South Florida Provost Renu Khator has been named the leader of the University of Houston system.

Houston's Board of Regents met this morning to unanimously declare Khator the president of the university and chancellor of its system, which includes three other universities and two teaching centers, said Eric Gerber, the system's spokesman.

Renu Khator

Khator, 52, has been with USF since 1985 and has risen from professor to No. 2 executive of the Tampa-area university system that enrolls 45,000 students.

Few expected Khator to stay at USF long. Headhunters have called upon her frequently to run universities from Las Vegas to Philadelphia. Khator has said she has an agenda for USF, but she wanted to run her own university.

Recruiters have enticed her with jobs to lead schools such as Temple University in Philadelphia; the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Northeastern University in Boston; Kent State University in Ohio; and Mississippi State University.

She spurned them all but told The Tampa Tribune in July 2006 that, "definitely, one of these days, you know, I would want to pursue something else."

Khator, a native of India, has helped place USF in a national spotlight in recent years by recruiting top faculty who have nabbed millions in research dollars. She also has been key in securing millions in private fundraising, including the university's largest gift ever, from Tampa philanthropists Kiran and Pallavi Patel, worth $34.5 million.

Texas law requires that the nine-member Houston Board of Regents wait 21 days before officially naming Khator president. But that move mostly is procedural, Gerber said.

Reporter Adam Emerson can be reached at (813) 259-8285 or aemerson@tampatrib.com.

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