Guy Bailey, president of Texas Tech University, will interview for the University of Alabama presidency on Wednesday, July 11.
According to an announcement made by UA System Chancellor Robert Witt, Bailey is the leading candidate going into his interview with the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees. The meeting will be held at the Bryant Conference Center at 11 a.m. and open to the public.
Texas Tech system chancellor Kent Hance spoke highly of Bailey in an emailed quote Friday.
“Dr. Bailey has done a remarkable job during his time here at Texas Tech and we hate to lose him,” Hance said. “The University of Alabama is his alma mater and it’s hard to say no when your school asks you to come home. I know that he will do a fine job at Alabama and we all wish him well. We certainly appreciate his service to Texas Tech University.”
Bailey became president of Texas Tech in 2008. He currently serves on the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors of the NCAA, the Executive Committee of the Big XII athletic conference and the Board of Trustees of Midwest Research Institute.
“From the outset, the president search advisory committee was looking for an individual who has seasoned experience as a sitting president at a complex university that was experiencing growth, has a strong commitment to students as well as a national research platform and, of course, a Division-I athletic program,” Kellee Reinhart, vice chancellor of system relations, said Friday.
“On top of that experience, the icing on the cake I would suggest for Dr. Bailey is that he earned his undergraduate and masters degrees at the University of Alabama, he is a native son of our state so he brings that deep understanding and appreciation for our University.”
Born in Montgomery, Ala., he attended UA from 1968 to 1974, earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English. Before becoming president at Texas Tech, Bailey was Chancellor of the University of Missouri-Kansas City from 2006 to 2008, and Provost and Executive Vice President at The University of Texas at San Antonio from 1999 to 2005.
“One of our best and brightest graduates, Guy Bailey knows his alma mater and his home state from top to bottom – and he brings a wealth of national leadership experience that is an impressive match for the selection criteria developed by the Search Committee,” Witt said in the press release. “I am very pleased that he has agreed to interview with the Board of Trustees next week.”
Reinhart said the Board of Trustees has set a precedent for interviews to be followed quickly with a vote and election.
“We saw that case when Dr. Witt was elected chancellor of the University System last fall, when Dr. Robert Altenkirch was elected president of UA Huntsville and at other times in the past,” she said. “While I wouldn’t want to anticipate what the outcome is exactly going to be, l would say that a vote could happen very quickly.”
