Ambika Mathur to retire from UTSA Graduate School

MARCH 24, 2025 — Ambika Mathur, senior vice provost for graduate and postdoctoral studies and dean of the UTSA Graduate School, today announced plans to retire from the university, effective August 31, 2025. She has served in the role since 2019.

“Dean Mathur’s leadership has been instrumental in driving UTSA’s success, both in elevating graduate education and in positioning the university for significant milestones,” said Heather Shipley, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. “Under her guidance, the Graduate School has been a cornerstone of our efforts to achieve and maintain R1 Classification from the Carnegie Foundation and to secure eligibility for the National Research University Fund. Her commitment to enhancing graduate student support, expanding career opportunities, and fostering a more accessible academic environment has made a lasting impact. We appreciate Ambika’s many contributions to UTSA and are confident that the momentum she has fostered will continue.”

During her tenure, Mathur has been a driving force behind UTSA’s efforts to strengthen graduate student training and support. She chaired the task force for the Graduate Student Success for Faculty Excellence Initiative and led her staff and collaborators across the university through the initiative’s implementation, focusing on enhancing programming, recruitment, funding, and career outcomes.

“Dean Mathur’s leadership has been instrumental in driving UTSA’s success.”

Among those, the university established new policies for awarding graduate assistantships and funding packages to fully funded, full-time doctoral students to ensure that they all receive a competitive stipend, full tuition and fees, and health insurance. These improvements have enhanced the university’s ability to recruit and retain top doctoral talent, strengthening both student success and faculty research support, and also contributing to a milestone achievement: UTSA’s doctoral student enrollment surpassed 1,000 for the first time in fall 2024.

Recognizing that many Ph.D. students pursue careers beyond academia, Mathur has championed efforts to provide stronger career training for UTSA graduate students through the Graduate and Postdoctoral Success (GPS) program. GPS offers flexible programming that helps prepare master’s students, doctoral students and postdocs for a variety of career options in an evolving, modern workforce. Such programs include the Three-Minute Thesis competition, which prepares students to showcase their scholarly work; the Transdisciplinary Team Grand Challenge, which invites students to work together across disciplines to propose conceptual projects addressing specific topics; and the Fellowship Incentive Program, which encourages graduate students and their mentors to apply for competitive national programs.

Building on this commitment to career development, Mathur also oversaw the establishment of the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs to provide professional development and networking opportunities for postdoctoral fellows. Housed in the Graduate School and jointly administered by Academic Affairs and the Office of Research, the office further strengthens UTSA’s position as an R1 university by enhancing training and career preparation for postdocs across disciplines.

A key initiative of Mathur’s has been the introduction of microcredentials through Credly, allowing master’s students, doctoral students, and postdoctoral students to earn badges for completing training in professional skills. The program helps students demonstrate strengths in areas like leadership, conflict management, delegation, public speaking, and generative AI, giving them a competitive edge in the job market.

Mathur also led the Graduate School to introduce Keep Running With Us (KRWU), a streamlined, invitation-only admissions process designed to retain top UTSA undergraduate students and recent alumni by encouraging them to pursue master’s and doctoral degrees. KRWU removes many barriers to higher education, making it easier for talented students to continue their studies at UTSA and strengthening the university’s connection to the San Antonio community.

In addition to her administrative leadership, Mathur is deeply committed to supporting students and advancing educational access. She and her husband, Deepak Kamat, demonstrated this commitment with a $20,000 donation to the UTSA Prefreshman Engineering Program (PREP), which engages middle and high school students in STEM education. Their gift is helping fund activities such as guest speakers in classrooms, further expanding access to innovative STEM programming and providing pivotal experiences that encourage students to pursue careers in these critical fields.

"I have been incredibly fortunate to work with so many talented and dedicated individuals during my time at UTSA, and as I move on to the next chapter, I remain a proud Roadrunner,” said Mathur. “The support and collaboration across campus have been crucial in shaping the Graduate School’s success and the enriching experiences we've provided to our graduate students. I am deeply grateful to my colleagues, our partners, and the broader UTSA community for their unwavering commitment to our students’ futures."

A cancer immunologist, Mathur has received over $50 million in federal grant funding resulting in more than 500 presentations and peer-reviewed publications. Nationally, she has briefed the U.S. Congress, served on National Institutes of Health Advisory Committees to the Director, the Executive Committee of the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities and the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities, as well as several other impactful committees and panels at the NIH, National Science Foundation, Council of Graduate Schools, National Postdoctoral Association, Association of American Medical Colleges and Association of American Universities.

Shipley said she expects to launch an internal search for the next vice provost for graduate and postdoctoral studies and dean later this spring.

— Rebecca Luther