Dear friends of UATX,
I want to share an important update with you.
As of October 1, Pano Kanelos will be stepping down as Chancellor of UATX to pursue new opportunities.
Pano was part of the small group that first gathered in my home here in Austin back in 2021 with a simple but radical idea: higher education is broken, and we can’t wait for the old guard to fix itself. In his founding essay, Pano gave a much-needed voice to what many of us already knew—that too many universities have traded the pursuit of truth for conformity, while leaving students without the virtue and discipline to tackle America’s biggest challenges.
From that spark, UATX has grown against the odds. What began as a handful of dreamers is now a campus alive with energy—two cohorts of extraordinary students and faculty, on a mission to build the best undergraduate program in the country. Every student attends tuition- free, admitted solely on merit. UATX is creating a model of education unlike anything in America today.
But UATX isn’t just about fixing higher education. The old elite has failed—and the institutions that trained them are collapsing. UATX exists to forge a new generation of courageous, principled leaders ready to rebuild what’s been broken.
Building something new is never easy. Following through on promises made is even harder. We are deeply grateful for Pano’s leadership in launching this project and guiding it through its early years. His work laid the foundation for UATX and we are all excited to see the new university leadership continue to carry on his legacy. We wish him the very best as he takes on his next chapter.
Sincerely,
Joe Lonsdale
Chairman, Board of Trustees
University of Austin
