Rachel Davis Mersey has been named UT’s new executive vice president and provost, President Jay Hartzell announced in an email Monday. Mersey has been serving as interim provost since Aug. 27 and was previously dean of the Moody College of Communication

Mersey’s new role includes overseeing enrollment management and the university’s research enterprise, as well as serving as the chief academic officer, according to a university press release.

“From the day she started as Interim Provost, Rachel (Davis Mersey) has proved to be a strategic, decisive and visionary leader who embraces challenges and drives academic excellence,” Hartzell said in the email announcement to the UT community.

Prior to serving as dean at the Moody College, Mersey was director of global research and partnerships at Facebook’s parent company Meta, associate dean for research at Moody and associate dean for research at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communications.