Dr. Kirk Calhoun is the lone finalist for president of the University of North Texas Health Science Center.

System regents appointed Calhoun during a special called meeting June 27. He is currently serving as interim president of the Health Science Center.

Per Texas law, the board must wait 21 days before officially hiring Calhoun as president.

Calhoun took over as interim president of the Health Science Center in February.

The regents also tapped UNT Dallas interim President Warren von Eschenbach as sole finalist for the permanent presidency of his campus.

Addressing both finalists’ appointments, Dr. Michael R. Williams, chancellor of UNT System, said the two “are values-based leaders who have served a pivotal role.”

“There is no doubt that they will continue to serve with distinction by fostering academic excellence in innovation, furthering the mission of our institutions, and serving the students and communities entrusted to our care,” Williams said in a news release.

The previous president, Sylvia Trent-Adams, resigned in January more than four months after an NBC News investigation into the school’s willed body program revealed failures to contact family members of the deceased, letting their bodies go unclaimed and used for research.

Before coming to the UNT Health Science Center, Calhoun served as president of the University of Texas at Tyler, where he led the opening of a medical school. Calhoun is a graduate of the University of Kansas School of Medicine.

McKinnon Rice is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at mckinnon.rice@fortworthreport.org.

Editor’s note: This story was updated June 27, 2025, with additional information from the UNT System.