(Press rlelease)

Belton, Texas – University of Mary Hardin-Baylor officials announced today plans for the inaugural ceremony for Dr. Randy O’Rear, the 22nd president of the university. O’Rear assumed the office of president for the university on June 1, 2009.

The inauguration is set for 10:00 a.m. on Friday, September 18, in the Mayborn Campus Center on University Drive, on the west side of the Belton campus. The ceremony is open to the public.

By a unanimous decision of the university’s Board of Trustees, O’Rear was named President and CEO of the university in September 2008.

O’Rear, 44, is the first president of UMHB who is also an alumnus of the university. He graduated from UMHB with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1988 and earned an MBA from UMHB in 1997. O’Rear earned a doctoral degree in Higher Education Administration from Baylor University in 2004.

O’Rear has served at UMHB since 1988, most recently as executive vice president and chief operating officer. For more than 18 years, O'Rear has been actively involved in fundraising for the university. Under his leadership, gifts and grants dramatically increased, numerous endowed scholarships were established and major capital projects were completed, including the construction of the Parker Academic Center, the Mayborn Campus Center and the new Meyer Christian Studies Center.

Originally from Waco, O’Rear is a graduate of Robinson High School. He and his wife, Julie, have three children, Ryan, Taylor and Reed. They currently live in Salado and are members of First Baptist Church, Belton, where O'Rear serves as a deacon.