Jay Hartzell is the 11th president of Southern Methodist University (SMU). He took office on June 1, 2025, succeeding R. Gerald Turner, who led SMU for 30 years and is now president emeritus.
Career
Hartzell came to SMU from the University of Texas at Austin, where he had been named president in September 2020. Before that, he was the 12th dean of UT Austin’s McCombs School of Business, and he had been a member of the UT Austin faculty since 2001. According to SMU, applications, enrollment, graduation rates, research spending and fundraising all reached record levels during his time as UT Austin’s 30th president.
He began his academic career as an assistant professor of finance at New York University’s Stern School of Business, and he worked earlier as a consultant with Hewitt Associates. His research covers corporate finance, corporate governance and real estate. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and economics from Trinity University in San Antonio and a Ph.D. in finance from UT Austin.
At SMU
Hartzell spent much of his first year on a listening effort that produced a strategic plan for the next decade. SMU says he has recruited scholars in fields including art history, economics, English, geosciences, philosophy and political science, and the university planned to open an SMU Dallas Office in August 2026 as a point of contact for companies, civic groups and community partners.
In Dallas, he serves on the Dallas Citizens Council and the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas CEO Advisory Council, and he sits on the boards of MGIC Investment Corporation and Susser Bank. He and his wife, Kara, a licensed clinical social worker, have two adult children.
Recognition
Hartzell was named to D CEO’s 2027 Dallas 500 in the colleges and universities category. SMU’s listing in the Portal of Dallas directory names him along with two other SMU honorees, Mai Bui and Todd Milbourn.