University Star

Denise M. Trauth became president of Texas State University after a unanimous vote on June 11, 2002 by the Texas State Board of Regents. She is the ninth president in Texas State’s 112 year existence.

Trauth attended high school in Cincinnati, Ohio where she wrote for the school newspaper. Following graduation, she enrolled at the College of Mount St. Joseph where she majored in English and completed a minor in Journalism. She earned her master’s degree in journalism from Ohio State University after teaching both english and journalism in Michigan. Trauth received her doctorate in mass communications at the University of Iowa.

Trauth met her husband, John Huffman, while attending the University of Iowa. They married in 1973, and have had two daughters together. Trauth and Huffman have written many books together focusing mainly on the areas of telecommunications law and first amendment issues dealing with mass communication.

Trauth worked at both the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma and Bowling Green State after receiving her doctorate. In 1993 she moved to Charlotte to work at the University of North Carolina as Dean of the Graduate School and eventually became Provost of the institution. In 2002 she came to Texas State University.

One of her first actions as President was changing the university’s name. The Associated Student Government and the previous president, Jerome Supple, initiated the effort and Southwest Texas State University became Texas State University on September 1, 2003. Trauth also started the Common Experience movement at the university in 2004 as a way to connect entering students, upper classmen, faculty and the community through a common idea.

Dr. Trauth is a member and former president of the Austin Area Research Organization, the Austin Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee and Board, Board of Trustees of the Southwest Research Institute, Philosophical Society of Texas, the Austin Leadership Forum, E3 Alliance, KLRU and the United Way Capital Area Community. Trauth also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. She was also chairwoman of the Texas Council of Public University Presidents and Chancellors and the Texas International Education Consortium.

As president, Trauth was named one of the Most Powerful and Influential Women in Texas by Texas Diversity magazine in 2008. Texas State was recognized by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the Education Trust as a model for higher education success