Dean of UTRGV medical school is moving to Tennessee

MCALLEN, Texas - In a recent speech, Dr. Michael B. Hocker, MD, joked that the average tenure of a dean at a medical school was three years. He noted that he had been dean of UT Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine for almost four years. 

“I told Dr. (Guy) Bailey, I said, I'm done. I reached my three year mark,” said Hocker, drawing laughter from the audience at the 2025 State of RGV Real Estate forum.

Well, it is not a joke any more. UTRGV announced Tuesday that Hocker, who also serves as senior vice president of UT Health RGV, is leaving. 

UTRGV said Hocker will assume a new appointment as executive dean of the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in July 2025.

“We are deeply grateful for Dr. Hocker’s remarkable service and vision,” UTRGV President Guy Bailey said. “His commitment to innovation, education and community health has propelled our medical school to new heights. We thank him for his dedication to our region and wish him every success in his new role.”

UTRGV listed some of the achievements of Hocker since joining UTRGV in 2021. They include:

• Securing full accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME).
• Expanding Graduate Medical Education by launching a consortium of 10 new residency/fellowship programs.
• Overseeing the opening of the Institute of Neurosciences and the Human Genomics Center.
• Guiding the $156 million UT Health RGV Cancer and Ambulatory Surgery Center project, which opens later this year.

The 2025 State of RGV Real Estate forum was hosted by Edwards Abstract & Title Company and held at the McAllen Convention Center. In his speech at the forum, Hocker said: “I don't know if I'll be here in the next 10, 15, years, but I'm going to be smiling somewhere and saying, hey, our numbers are in the green, and we have enough physicians to take care of our patients.”

At another point in his speech, Hocker said he liked his job. As he did not want to jeopardize it he said he would not talk much about the diversity of the student body at the school of medicine.

“I would show you the minority numbers, and the diversity, which I think is really special to our school. But the state doesn't allow me to do that, and I like my job. But we have one of the most diverse medical schools in the country and I'm so proud of that,” Hocker said.

Hocker also described Bailey was one of the best university presidents in the country.

The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service covered Hocker’s speech in depth. Here are links to five stories about his remarks: