Diana Natalicio announced her plan to retire after 30 years as UTEP president in May.

UTEP, one of El Paso’s major economic drivers and source of pride, has enjoyed a level of stability in the president’s office unprecedented in the UT System. Natalicio, who has been at the center of UTEP’s transformation into a major research institution, is the longest serving UT System president ever.

The process for filling vacancies in the UT System is outlined in the Regents Rules and Regulations in the six-page Rule 20201. It is a highly confidential process, and the applicants have not been disclosed.

Once a finalist is selected, the UT System will have to wait 21 days before it can officially name that person president of the university.

In an interview with El Paso Inc. in May, Regent Paul Foster described some of the characteristics he’d like to see in the next president, one of the most influential positions in the city.

“You want somebody that’s very aspirational. The one thing with Dr. Natalicio, she was a dreamer and she always thought UTEP could do more than most other people thought it could. And because of that leadership and that quality that she had, they actually did overachieve in most people’s view,” Foster said. “So you want an aspirational leader like that, somebody that can look way into the future and kind of visualize what we can do in this community and in this university.”