When the UT System Board of Regents announced in August 2024 the planned merger of San Antonio’s powerhouse universities, UTSA and The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, they also designated its name: The University of Texas at San Antonio. This choice was a deliberate and forward-looking decision — one that honors the institutions’ shared legacy in the nation’s seventh-largest city while positioning the new university for national prominence and long-term distinction. It was also a way to help elevate San Antonio — shining a national spotlight on the city’s strengths and contributing to its emergence as a vibrant hub for academic, research and innovation excellence in South Texas.
“This merger is the catalyst that will supercharge our region as a national leader in learning, innovation, health and economic vigor,” said Vice Chairman of the Board of Regents James C. “Rad” Weaver of San Antonio, during the August 2024 announcement.
Featuring the city’s name in the new university strengthens its identity, builds on San Antonio’s reputation and enhances the university’s ability to attract talent, partnerships and investment, leaders said. The merger is the first step toward our goal of becoming a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU).
“AAU universities represent the most significant institutions in the nation — focused on education, science, innovation and discovery,” said Francisco G. Cigarroa, MD, senior executive vice president for health affairs and health system.
“That designation [will elevate our ability] to recruit the very finest faculty … and certainly outstanding students and staff,” Cigarroa shared, adding that integrating the two universities will bring faculty from different disciplines together — sparking groundbreaking discoveries and fueling innovations that translate into real-world impact and market-ready solutions.
“It’s going to spin out new companies, as it already has in artificial intelligence,” Cigarroa said. “It’s going to lead to drug development, which will bring pharma into San Antonio. It will help with engineers that could help our city and our community and our state with transportation needs. So [this integration] is very powerful.”
Once the merger is official on Sept. 1, UT San Antonio will be the third-largest research university in Texas with more than 40,000 students, 370 academic programs and the region’s only academic health center. It will have a budget of $2.4 billion and $486 million in research expenditures.
Combining access with excellence
The new university name also reflects the combined focus of world-class status and the provision of access and social mobility.
“At UT Health San Antonio, the guiding principle has long been, ‘We make lives better’ — a powerful reflection of our mission and impact,” said Taylor Eighmy, PhD, acting president of UT Health San Antonio and president of UTSA. “That same spirit of purpose and service is central to the future we’re building together. It’s all about the provision of health care, keeping people healthy, saving lives, educating people around health, preparing future health care providers, researchers and scientists. Complementary to that, UTSA’s focus has long been student success, especially regarding how we create opportunities to advance pathways for our students and their families, creating social and economic mobility. These efforts are synonymous in their focus.”
Eighmy noted that the integrated structure of a comprehensive research university combined with a leading academic health center is exceptionally rare in the United States. “There are likely only five other universities nationally that reflect this kind of construct,” he said. “Bringing together the full breadth of general academics, top-tier health sciences education, clinical care and biomedical research under one institution creates a powerful platform for impact and positions San Antonio to lead in ways few other cities can. I believe that bodes well for the future, especially for our new university going forward,” Eighmy said.
When The University of Texas at San Antonio is presented to the nation, it will stand as a powerhouse of academic excellence, cutting-edge research and transformative health care, he said.
To learn more about the merger and the bold vision for the new university, visit www.UTSanAntonioTogether.org.