Staff Report
SAN MARCOS — Texas State University is recognizing President Denise Trauth's 20 years of service.
The Texas State University System Board of Regents unanimously granted Trauth with President Emeritus status and renamed the Undergraduate Academic Center (UAC) in her honor — Trauth will retire on June 30.
The UAC, which opened in 2011 on the San Marcos Campus, will now be known as the Denise M. Trauth and John L. Huffman Undergraduate Academic Center. The title, “President Emeritus,” together with all privileges and perquisites stated in the rules and regulations for professors emeriti, was also conferred and forever inured to Trauth.
She became the ninth and first female president of Texas State in 2002, working tirelessly to ensure the university reached several firsts, including designation as a Texas Emerging Research University, elevation to an R2 in the Carnegie Classification system for research universities, achieving designation as a Hispanic Serving Institution, and moving to the FBS subdivision of NCAA Division I.
Trauth set Texas State on the trajectory to become a national research university by advancing research and development spending to an all-time high of $72.5 million, bringing the latest technology to learning and laboratory spaces, attracting top faculty who excel in teaching and research, and building world-class graduate and undergraduate research initiatives focused on solving real-world problems.
During her tenure, Trauth helped the university increase enrollment by almost 50% and opened the Round Rock Campus. Research and development expenditures and funding grew to record-breaking levels, transforming the university from a regional institution to one of statewide and national prominence. She oversaw the expansion of Texas State's academic offerings, adding nearly 80 degree and certificate programs, opening the Bruce and Gloria Ingram School of Engineering and the St. David’s School of Nursing.
Trauth presided over Texas State’s largest construction expansion since being founded in 1899, including opening Emmett and Miriam McCoy Hall, the Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Park, Bruce and Gloria Ingram Hall, four residence halls and the Performing Arts Center including the Patti Strickel Harrison Theatre. Other major projects included the remodel and expansion of the LBJ Student Center and The Wittliff Collections, new baseball and softball stadiums and major renovations to Bobcat Stadium and the University Events Center on the San Marcos Campus. The Round Rock Campus saw major growth, with construction of Avery Hall, the Nursing Building and Willow Hall.
