Two former Chancellors, Charles LeMaistre, MD, and Hans Mark, PhD, were recently given the honorific title Chancellors Emeritus by the University of Texas System Board of Regents.
“Charles LeMaistre and Hans Mark were visionary chancellors who expanded the UT System into new directions that greatly benefited higher education and the people of Texas,” said current Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa, MD. “They were unique, with exceptional careers in their respective fields of medicine and aerospace engineering before bringing their impressive talents to the UT System.”
Charles LeMaistre, MD
Dr. LeMaistre is Professor of Internal Medicine who served as the fourth UT System chancellor, from 1971 to 1978. Under his leadership, the UT System expanded to include new health science centers in Houston and San Antonio and new universities in Dallas, Permian Basin and San Antonio.
Dr. LeMaistre has devoted much of his professional career to cancer prevention and smoking control. He served on the first U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health in 1964, and later as the National President of the American Cancer Society. He was President of UT MD Anderson Cancer Center from 1978 to 1996 and holds the title President Emeritus.
Hans Mark, PhD
Dr. Mark is a physicist and retired Professor of Aerospace Engineering who served as the sixth Chancellor of the University of Texas System from 1984 to 1992. He led the UT System to international prominence in engineering and science, and played a prominent role in bringing the high-tech industry to Austin and Central Texas.
As Chancellor, he presided over a major increase in federal and private funding for UT System institutions and was instrumental in bringing Pan American University into the UT System.
Only two other chancellors, Harry Huntt Ransom, PhD (1961–1971) and E. Don Walker (1978–1984), have been named Chancellor Emeritus. ■
