UTA & its Future

Jennifer Cowley is the first female president of The University of Texas at Arlington and the 10th overall. She is also a professor of public affairs and planning in the College of Architecture, Planning, and Public Affairs.

Dr. Cowley has dedicated her career to public service. Before joining UT Arlington, she was the provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of North Texas, where she led economic development partnerships, advanced diversity and inclusion initiatives, fostered student success, bolstered the research portfolio, and helped increase enrollment. She worked at The Ohio State University for 16 years, serving as the vice provost for capital planning and regional campuses, associate dean of the College of Engineering, head of city and regional planning, and a professor during her time there. While at OSU, Cowley also led four regional campuses, helped develop the President’s and Provost’s Teaching Institute to aid faculty in improving teaching quality and advancing effectiveness, and created a capital plan that led to more than $1 billion in development over a five-year period.

Prior to entering academia, Cowley worked in city government in Amarillo and College Station. She earned a Ph.D. in urban and regional science, master’s degree in urban planning, and bachelor’s degree in political science from Texas A&M University and master’s degrees in interdisciplinary studies and public administration from UNT. She is a fellow of American Institute of Certified Planners and a member of the executive committee of the Council on Academic Affairs in the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities.

An Arlington native, Cowley and her husband, Jon, have a high-school-age son, Nathan, and a pet chinchilla named Chinchi.