After over two years as president of the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, Sylvia Trent-Adams will step down from the role by the end of January.
The UNT System Board of Regents said it accepted Trent-Adam’s resignation by mutual agreement in a statement Jan. 20. She will officially exit the institution Jan. 31.
The UNT System has appointed Dr. Kirk A. Calhoun to serve as interim president of HSC, effective Feb. 1. Calhoun most recently served as president of the University of Texas at Tyler until his retirement in 2024.
“The Board of Regents and the UNT System are grateful for Dr. Trent-Adams’ contributions and service to HSC. Both as President and previously as Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, Dr. Trent-Adams served HSC and its students with dedication, integrity, and respect,” the Health Science Center said in a statement.
UNT Health Science Center is an academic health science center focused on education, research and patient care. It comprises the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, College of Biomedical Sciences, College of Public Health, College of Health Professions, College of Pharmacy and the recently established College of Nursing.
Trent-Adams began her career with UNT Health Science Center in 2020 as its chief strategy officer before her promotion to president in September 2022. She became the seventh president of the Health Science Center, succeeding Dr. Michael Williams, and the first Black woman to lead the institution.
Her resignation comes more than four months after a national NBC News investigation found UNT Health Science Center’s Willed Body Program repeatedly failed to contact reachable family members before declaring a body unclaimed and using it for medical research. A November investigation also reported that the university was violating Texas law by liquefying the remains of human bodies in its training program.
After NBC published its findings, Health Science Center program leaders were terminated and the program suspended operations. Tarrant County also cut its ties to the program after donating its unclaimed bodies to the university for years.
The institution’s three-paragraph statement did not mention the controversy.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
David Moreno is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. His position is supported by a grant from Texas Health Resources. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or @davidmreports.
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.