Way Kuo, UT's dean of the College of Engineering, has accepted an offer from the City University of Hong Kong to be their next president.

Kuo will remain at UT until the end of the spring semester. In the coming days, Provost Robert Holub will form a search committee to seek a replacement.

Kuo, who was dean for five years, said the only thing that could make him leave UT was an opportunity at a major international university, a UT press release stated. He currently holds honorary professorship at eight Chinese universities.

Under Kuo, the college has seen significant growth in both national rankings and quality of students. It was recently ranked 34th in U.S. News' list of best public undergraduate engineering colleges in the country.

He was previously the holder of the Wisenbaker Chair of Engineering in Innovation and Executive Associate Dean of Engineering at Texas A&M University. He was also appointed Senior Fulbright Scholar in Reliability to Lisbon and Glasgow in 1991.

Kuo is one of three Foreign Members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering's 2007 new members list.

He is considered one of the principal scholars for his work in developing cost-effective methodologies in microelectronics for reducing infant mortality.