Why the AAU Is So Important

By Bill Powers in Promote & Protect on October 26, 2012 at 12:35 pm | No Comments

I’d like to share the news that on Tuesday of this week I was elected vice-chair of the Association of American Universities. This means that next year I’ll have the honor of serving a one-year term as the group’s chair.

The AAU is the premier organization of national research universities, both public and private. There are only 61 current members. In Texas, only UT Austin, Rice (admitted 1985), and A&M (admitted 2001) are members. Membership is hard-won, and we can be proud that UT Austin has been a member since 1929.

The AAU was founded in 1900 by 14 PhD-granting universities to protect and advance the interests of research-intensive universities. It’s important that America’s top research universities speak with a united voice in matters of national higher education policy, and the AAU provides that voice in Washington and across the country. I hope my two years as vice-chair and chair of this, our nation’s most prestigious group of universities, continues to raise the profile of UT Austin on the national and world stage. Finally, I’d like to thank AAU president Hunter Rawlings for his skillful leadership of this critical organization.

Editor’s Note: You can follow President Powers directly by subscribing to his blog, Tower Talk.

Tags: aau, American Association of Universities, bill powers, top national research universities