FEBRUARY 3, 2020 — The University of Texas at San Antonio today named higher education veteran Mary Larson Diaz as its vice president for university relations. Reporting directly to President Taylor Eighmy, Diaz will lead UTSA in building alliances with key stakeholders to further advance the university’s quest to become a model for student success, a great public research university and an exemplar for strategic growth and innovative excellence.
As vice president, Diaz will oversee UTSA’s relationship-building enterprise, which includes university strategic communications, marketing and special projects, and community and government relations. Additionally, she will be responsible for the visibility, maturation and amplification of the UTSA brand.
“To become a nationally recognized research institution, UTSA will need the unwavering support of local and state communities, elected leaders, and our friends across the nation,” said Eighmy. “Mary has a proven record of success in higher education university relations. Through leadership roles at prominent universities in Texas, Missouri, Kansas and Alabama, she has demonstrably strengthened relationships in support of long-term strategic growth initiatives.”
—TAYLOR EIGHMY, UTSA President
Diaz’s career spans nearly 30 years and includes leadership roles in community and government relations, communications and marketing, admissions, and strategic partnerships within educational institutions, city government, and for-profit and nonprofit organizations.
In 2018, Diaz was hired by UTSA as chief of staff in the Office of the President. In that role she has collaborated with the university’s administrative and academic leadership to launch presidential initiatives in support of the university’s 10-year strategic plan. Diaz serves as chair of UTSA’s Westside Community Partnerships Initiative steering committee and as liaison to The University of Texas System and state higher education agencies.
As a member of the president’s cabinet, she has played an integral role in assembling the president’s senior leadership team and directing administrative and operational activities for the Office of the President. She assumed the additional role of interim vice president for university relations in June 2019.
Her 18-year higher education career includes service on the executive leadership teams at several institutions, including the University of Missouri Kansas City, where she was chief of staff and deputy chancellor for external relations from 2005 to 2008, and Texas Tech University, where she held the positions of associate vice president for external relations and chief communications officer from 2009 to 2012.
While at UMKC, Diaz worked under Guy Bailey, UTSA’s provost from 1998 to 2005 and current president of The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and became familiar with UTSA.
“UTSA is deeply committed to the success of its students and to serving San Antonio to fulfill its mission as a Hispanic Serving University,” said Diaz. “The new division of University Relations will play a significant role in these efforts, particularly by supporting the university’s strategic enrollment growth, an ambitious capital campaign, and downtown campus expansion. I am thrilled to have this new opportunity to advance UTSA and to experiencing the joys of seeing students thrive.”
⇒ Learn more about the Office of University Relations.
Before joining UTSA, Diaz also served as special assistant to the president for external relations at The University of Alabama, and vice president for marketing and communications at Baker University in Baldwin, Kansas. At earlier points in her career, Diaz worked as a special assistant to Kansas City’s mayor (now U.S. Congressman) Emanuel Cleaver, and in various community affairs roles at Kansas City Power & Light Co.
Diaz also served as vice president for strategic partnerships at Two West Advisors, a financial services firm in Overland Park, Kansas, where she was instrumental in helping to launch the firm’s higher education division and develop partnerships with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and statewide higher education associations.
Diaz’s career distinctions include service as the presidential representative to committees of the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities and the Coalition for Urban Serving Universities. Her strengths in building relationships within the university community and among local civic leadership has had impactful results, including the creation of Time to Get It Right, a strategic plan for UMKC's role as Kansas City's urban serving university.
Diaz earned her B.A. at Hastings College and a M.S. in management from Baker University.
She was selected as vice president for university relations following a national search that was chaired by UTSA Vice President for Inclusive Excellence Myron Anderson. The search committee was comprised of faculty, staff, students and external partners from San Antonio.
Diaz will continue to serve in dual roles for the next six months to assist with the recruitment, hiring and onboarding of a new chief of staff for President Eighmy.
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This event will acknowledge graduating seniors from the McNair Scholars program at UTSA before inducting the new cohort of scholars into the program.
North Paseo Building (NPB 5.140), Main CampusAt this memorable celebration, UTSA graduates will be introduced one-by-one to cross the stage and accept their doctoral degrees.
Arts Building Recital Hall, Main CampusRoadrunner Walk is an event for graduating students to have a memorable walk on campus to celebrate an important milestone and their achievements. Graduates will walk along the Paseo while being celebrated by the UTSA community, friends, and family members.
Student Union Paseo, Main CampusCelebrate the accomplishments of College of Education and Human Development, College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Sciences and University College.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St.Celebrate the accomplishments of Alvarez College of Business, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St.The University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education .
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to promoting access for all. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.
