Rex Tillerson, outgoing secretary of state, being considered for top job at University of Texas

The University of Texas is considering outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson as its next chancellor, putting the former Exxon Mobil chief executive potentially in charge of one of the nation’s largest higher education systems.

Mr. Tillerson, 66, is in the running for the role of UT chancellor, The Wall Street Journal and The Texas Tribune reported Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Current Chancellor William McRaven announced in December that he plans to step down this spring, and several members of the search committee convened to find his successor are making “a hard push” for Mr. Tillerson, The Journal first reported.

Mr. Tillerson is believed to be “open to the opportunity,” the Journal reported, which would place him atop the University of Texas System’s 14 institutions and their 234,000 students.

President Trump’s secretary of state since February 2017, Mr. Tillerson was ousted earlier this month and plans to finish his stint on March 31. He’s been replaced by Mike Pompeo, a former congressman and Mr. Trump’s first CIA director.

Mr. Tillerson graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1975 and received a Bachelor of Science degree from its school in civil engineering. More recently he and his wife pledged $5 million to his alma mater in 2014.

Five current or former UT regents are conducting the search for chancellor with the help of an executive recruiting firm, Russell Reynolds Associates, The Tribune reported.

“Nobody other than the members of the search advisory committee have confirmed knowledge of the names of candidates under consideration,” UT System spokesperson Randa Safady told The Tribune in a statement. “At this point, any names mentioned by others are speculative at best.”

More than a dozen former high ranking White House officials have left office since Mr. Trump’s administration started last January, including press secretary Sean Spicer, economic adviser Gary Cohn, senior counsel Steve Bannon and communications directors Hope Hicks and Anthony Scaramucci, among others.