Jay Hartzell didn’t set out to leave the University of Texas’ flagship campus for a smaller private college near downtown Dallas. But after SMU board members began aggressively recruiting him for their soon-to-be-vacant president job,

University of Texas Austin President Jay Hartzell is leaving his position to become the next president of Southern Methodist University. He begin that position on June 1.

Hartzell leaves UT-Austin after four years of tense political battles and legislative efforts to implement a more conservative vision of public higher ed.