Anthem Executive Assists Texas A&M International University with President Search
September 26, 2025 – Executive recruitment firm Anthem Executive has helped to recruit Christopher Maynard as the new president of Texas A&M International University (TAMIU). The board’s decision on August 28th to name him the sole finalist for the position followed recommendations from Anthem Executive and Texas A&M University System chancellor Glenn Hegar. Michael Ballew, Scott Watson, Mike “JR” Wheless, and Florene Stawowy led the assignment. Pablo Arenaz, who had led the 10,000-student campus in Laredo since 2016, died last October.
“The A&M System exists to expand opportunity and serve Texas,” said Mr. Hegar. “Dr. Maynard has spent his career doing exactly that — strengthening transfer pathways, supporting faculty excellence and aligning programs with workforce needs.”
Dr. Maynard currently serves as provost at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. Before that, he was associate vice provost at Sam Houston State University. Earlier in his career, he was a tenured professor of history, department chair and associate dean at the University of North Alabama.
“I am deeply honored to join TAMIU’s faculty, staff, and community partners in our shared commitment to further student success,” said Dr. Maynard. “The education provided by TAMIU has the power to transform the lives of students, their families, and the entire region, and I look forward to working collaboratively with our campus and community partners as we embrace opportunities and move forward together.”
Related: Anthem Executive Recruits President for Lamar University
A member of The Texas A&M University System, Texas A&M International University is a primarily Hispanic-serving, public university founded in 1970. The campus enjoys a broad-based enrollment of nearly 9,000 students from 31 countries and 28 US states. TAMIU offers transformative undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees in the arts and sciences, business, education, and nursing.
Proven Search Consultants
Anthem Executive, headquartered in Houston, TX, serves clients across a range of business sectors, including higher education, health sciences, corporate and non-profit institutions, global software and technology, private equity, insurance, service and manufacturing, oil and gas, and others. Its consultants bring a combined 80 years’ experience in the search industry. The firm’s higher education practice spans the entire leadership spectrum. In other sectors, Anthem Executive covers all roles from CEO and other C-suite leaders, board directors, vice president, and directors, among others.
Mr. Ballew, a registered Native American and member of the Echota Cherokee Tribe, serves as the firm’s chief diversity, inclusion, equity, and compliance officer, as well as search committee facilitator. He joined the executive search industry 14 years ago following a 20-plus year career in senior-level management with expertise in recruiting, counseling, training, operations, strategic planning, facilitation, project management, and workplace diversity.
Mr. Watson has been in the executive search industry for over 30 years. In addition to higher education institutions, he has served hospital/health systems, global software and technology companies, private equity enterprises, MCOs, insurance companies, service and manufacturing organizations with global footprints, and others.
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Mr. Wheless, a veteran of more than two decades in the search industry, has served a broad portfolio of clients across many industry lines on behalf of organizations ranging from small operations to Fortune $100 billion plus enterprises – including working with and recruiting some of the nation’s most influential leadership. Mr. Wheless has served institutions and organizations across a broad range of geographies and sectors in higher education, technology, healthcare, energy, financial services, law, insurance, hospitality and food services, retail, CPG, EPC, manufacturing, aerospace, mining, construction, and real estate.
Ms. Stawowy, who has been in executive search for over 20 years, is a core member of the higher education and academic health practice. Over the last two decades, she has developed deep expertise in senior‐level search, having been charged with numerous executive leadership transitions with a particular emphasis on higher education and academic health search.
Related: Anthem Executive Assists Midwestern State University with President Search
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
