Past Presidents
The University of Houston-Downtown (UHD) has had the privilege of outstanding leadership, which has set the stage for the University's continued growth and development for more than four decades. Meet UHD's Past Presidents:
Antonio D. Tillis, 2020-2021
Antonio D. Tillis, Ph.D., served as the University of Houston-Downtown's Interim President
from June 2020 through March 2021. During his tenure, UHD's enrollment grew during
summer, fall, and spring semesters. Dr. Tillis developed a partnership with the Office
of the Mayor that provided students with internship opportunities at City Hall. He
also launched several new initiatives, one of which included the creation of a university-wide
Diversity Taskforce. Dr. Tillis served as Dean for the University of Houston's College
of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) and is the MD Anderson Professor in Hispanic
Studies. Before joining the UH System, he served as Dean of the School of Languages,
Culture, and World Affairs at the College of Charleston; Chair of African and African
American Studies at Dartmouth College, and the inaugural Chair of Latin American and
Latino Studies at Purdue University. Dr. Tillis holds a Ph.D. in Latin American literature
with an Afro-Hispanic emphasis from the University of Missouri, a Master of Arts in
Spanish Literature from Howard University, and a Bachelor of Science in Spanish from
Vanderbilt University.
Juan Sánchez Muñoz, 2017-2020
Appointed as UHD’s sixth president in 2017, Dr. Muñoz expanded the institution’s reputation
in Houston and the region. During his tenure, UHD posted its largest enrollment in
school history and its highest graduation and retention rates. Under his leadership,
UHD launched new academic programs including Data Science and Nursing. Additionally,
he cultivated partnerships with area school districts and community colleges and led
UHD’s participation in the Houston Guided Pathways for Success collaborative. He also
was on hand for the opening of the $73 million College of Sciences & Technology Building.
The U.S. Marine Corps veteran earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University
of California, Santa Barbara; a Master of Arts in Mexican-American Studies with an
emphasis in literature from California State University, Los Angeles; and a Ph.D.
from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he studied Curriculum & Instruction
in the Division of Urban Schooling.
Michael A. Olivas, 2016-2017
Dr. Olivas was selected by University of Houston System (UHS) Chancellor Renu Khator
to take the helm as interim president at UHD in 2016 and early 2017. He played a major
role in projects that transformed the university, including a $10 million gift that
named the Marilyn Davies College of Business; the purchase of a 17-acre parcel of
land north of the campus' One Main Building; and articulation agreements with Houston
Community College and Lone Star College aimed at helping students transition from
a community college to a university setting. He earned a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown
University Law Center; a Master of Arts in English and Doctor of Higher Education
in Organizational Theory from The Ohio State University and a Bachelor of Arts in
English and Philosophy from Pontifical College Josephinum.
William V. Flores, 2009-2016
Prior to joining UHD, Dr. Flores served as interim president and provost at New Mexico
State University, following six years as its executive vice president and provost.
He led efforts that: transitioned UHD from an open-admissions institution to one with
freshman and transfer admission standards; increased online enrollment and degree
offerings; established new undergraduate and graduate degrees, especially an MBA program
that became the largest AACSB-accredited MBA in the Greater Houston Region; expanded
the University's Downtown footprint with a satellite campus in Northwest Houston.
Also, UHD was named to the U.S. President's Honor Roll for Community Service and was
designated a "Military Friendly School." Dr. Flores earned a bachelor's degree from
the University of California, Los Angeles, and a master's and a doctorate from Stanford
University.
Max Castillo, 1992-2009
Dr. Castillo served as president of San Antonio College for 10 years before taking
the helm at UHD. During his 17-year tenure at the University, his leadership resulted
in the expansion of UHD's physical campus with four new buildings and increased enrollment
and faculty growth. He also secured UHD's federal designation as a Hispanic Serving
Institution and a Minority Serving Institution. Dr. Castillo actively pursued community
partnerships and the Carnegie Foundation for the advancement of teaching for which
the University was recognized for those efforts with a Community Engagement classification—a recognition bestowed to select universities for community involvement. Dr. Castillo
earned a bachelor's and master's degree from St. Mary's University in San Antonio
and a doctorate in education from the University of Houston.
Manuel T. Pacheco, 1988-1991
Dr. Pacheco held various faculty and administrative positions before joining UHD
as its third president. After his three-year tenure at the University, he helmed the
University of Arizona as its 17th president from 1991-1997. He was recognized as President
Emeritus by the university in 1997. In 2012, Dr. Pacheco was appointed interim president
of New Mexico State University, where he previously served at NMSU in 2009. He also
served as president of the four-campus University of Missouri system and director
of Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. He also
was a charter member of the National Security Education Program and the University
of Arizona’s Science and Technology Research Park. Dr. Pacheco earned a bachelor's
degree from New Mexico Highlands University and a master's degree and doctorate from
The Ohio State University. During his tenure the University created three Colleges:
Business; Science, Math, and Technology; and Humanities and Social Sciences.
Alexander F. Schilt, 1980-1987
For more than two decades, Dr. Schilt served as president or chancellor in four universities
in three states. Before joining UHD as president in 1980, Dr. Schilt served as chancellor
of Indiana University East. After his tenure at UHD, he helmed Eastern Washington
University as president, but returned to Houston, nine years later, to become chancellor
of the University of Houston System (UHS). As chancellor, he was instrumental in completing
UH's first-ever successful development campaign by raising nearly $400 million for
the University's endowment. After six years as chancellor, Dr. Schilt became UH faculty
member as a professor in the Department of Education Leadership and Policy Studies.
He earned a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Wyoming and a master's
and doctorate degree from Arizona State University.
J. Don Boney, 1975-1979
Dr. Boney was an associate professor of educational psychology at the University
of Houston from 1967 to 1969, and an associate dean of graduate studies from 1970
to 1971. He followed former South Texas Junior College Chancellor and later interim
president William I. Dykes as the second president of the newly created UH-Downtown
College (UHDC) in 1975. Before UHDC, Dr. Boney served as president of the Houston
Community College System and acting general superintendent of the Houston Independent
School District. He remained in his position as UHDC president until his untimely
death in 1979. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Prairie View A&M University
in 1948, and a master's and doctorate degree in education from The University of Texas
at Austin.
W. I. Dykes, 1974-1975
Dr. William I. Dykes was born in western Oklahoma on a homestead in Roger Mills County
on February 26, 1907. He received his bachelors from Oklahoma Christian College in
Cordell, Oklahoma, and his MS in mathematics (not doctorate) in 1936 from Oklahoma
A&M, and was one of the first professors of the South Texas Junior College in its
inaugural year of 1948 as a math and physics professor. He became dean by the mid-1950s,
obtained the first accreditation of the College through the Southern Association of
Colleges and Universities, and concurrently earned a doctorate of education (EdD)
at the University of Houston, finishing in 1963 (we have his original dissertation,
which was written about how to improve the South Texas Junior College). When the Colleges
formally split in 1967, he led the institution to its final home at the Merchants
and Manufacturers Building and raised record-breaking sums of money to refurbish the
new space for classrooms. He presided over the integration of the College in 1967
as well, and negotiated the sale of STJC to the UH System in 1974, serving as its
first chancellor at the request of the University of Houston until 1975, before retiring
to care for his wife Lottie as she struggled with illness.
The University of Houston-Downtown Library was renamed for Dr. Dykes during a dedication
ceremony October 7, 1979. He passed away on June 13, 1984.