Taylor Eighmy, PhD
Taylor Eighmy, PhD, is the president of The University of Texas at San Antonio (UT San Antonio) and is the inaugural holder of the Carlos Alvarez Distinguished Presidential Chair. As the third-largest research university in Texas, UT San Antonio is nationally recognized as a designated Carnegie R1 institution, Carnegie Community Engagement institution, and a Carnegie Opportunity University. UT San Antonio includes the UT San Antonio Health Science Center — South Texas’s only academic health center and the region’s leading producer of health professionals — as well as UT Health San Antonio, an expansive clinical practice with more than 1,500 providers serving patients across the region; with over 2.3 million patient encounters last year, along with its partner University Health System. UT San Antonio is an anchor institution to San Antonio; serving over 43,000 students with 17,000 employees — including more than 4,000 faculty. Involving 14 colleges and schools, the institution offers more than 350 highly competitive degrees and certificates and has over $500M in annual research expenditures, a $2.8B budget, a $1.3B endowment, and a $7B annual economic impact.
"At UT San Antonio, we have a uniquely powerful set of circumstances because of who we are, where we are, and who we serve."
Leadership
Since arriving to San Antonio in 2017, Eighmy has made great strides toward linking educational attainment to the city’s economic development. Under his leadership, the university has produced more graduates than ever before, driving job creation and growing the city's knowledge economy. He is nationally recognized for advancing top research universities through strategic government-university-industry collaborations, public-private partnerships and community engagement. These principles are at the heart of his conviction that UT San Antonio is “the university of the future in the city of the future.”
Prior to his appointment by the UT System Board of Regents to serve as the inaugural president of UT San Antonio, he served eight years as the president of UTSA. Before then, Eighmy served as the chief research officer at three top public flagship universities: the University of New Hampshire (UNH), Texas Tech University (TTU), and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK).
Service
Nationally, Eighmy serves on the executive committee of the board of the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU) Coalition of Urban Serving Universities and the U.S. Council on Competitiveness. Eighmy also chairs the APLU Commission on International Initiatives and represents the Commission on the APLU Board of Directors. He serves on the executive committee of the board of the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities, on the executive and audit committees on the board of the American Athletic Conference, and he is a member of the Pew Charitable Trusts Presidents’ and Chancellors’ Council on Public Impact Research. Finally, he serves on the Council of the National Academies' Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable.
In Texas and more locally, he serves on the board and executive committee of greater:SATX. He also serves in various capacities on the boards of Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio Medical Foundation, World Affairs Council of San Antonio, the Tobin Center for Performing Arts and Southwest Research Institute.
Education
Eighmy received his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of New Hampshire in 1986 and his M.S. in Civl Engineering in 1983. He earned his B.S. in Biology from Tufts University in 1980.
Distinctions
He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Academy of Inventors. Eighmy is also a Diplomate for the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists. In 2025, Eighmy received the Ohtli Award from the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in 2026, he was inducted into the Philosophical Society of Texas and as a corresponding (international) member of the Mexican Academy of Engineering.
Personal
President Eighmy and his wife Peggy Eighmy have one daughter, Hannah, a pediatric nurse at Boston Children’s Hospital, and are the proudest of grandparents to Maeve Elizabeth. They enjoy fly fishing, biking, pickleball, cooking and playing with their dogs, Finbarr and Fiona.
Updated March 26, 2026