William Inboden
Executive Vice President and Provost | William Powers, Jr. Chair
William Inboden has served as executive vice president and provost of the University of Texas at Austin since August 1, 2025. He also holds the William Powers Jr. Chair and a joint faculty appointment with the School of Civic Leadership and the Department of History. As the university’s chief academic officer, he leads UT Austin’s academic mission and supports the excellence and continued innovation of research and teaching across campus.
Before returning to UT Austin, Inboden was director of the Alexander Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida and Peterson Senior Fellow with the Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Earlier, he spent thirteen years at UT Austin, where he served as founding executive director of the Clements Center for National Security, associate professor at the L.B.J. School of Public Affairs, Distinguished Scholar at the Strauss Center for International Security and Law, and founding editor in chief of the Texas National Security Review. His previous public service includes roles on the National Security Council at the White House, in the Department of State, and on the staffs of both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.
Inboden’s scholarship and public work focus on diplomatic history, religion and foreign policy, the American presidency, and national security. He has also been active in student mentorship, having chaired or served on nearly thirty doctoral committees and supervised more than thirty predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows. His honors include recognition as a Texas Ex by the Texas Exes Alumni Association and selection as Lecturer of the Year at the L.B.J. School.
Education
BA in history with honors, Stanford University
MA in history, Yale University
MPhil in history, Yale University
PhD in history, Yale University
Publications
The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink
Religion and American Foreign Policy, 1945–1960: The Soul of Containment
The Last Card: Inside George W. Bush’s Decision to Surge in Iraq
Hand-Off: The Foreign Policy That George W. Bush Bequeathed to Barack Obama
