J. Richard (Dick) Dawson, Chief Audit Executive at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), retired on May 31, 2017 after 24 years of service to UTSA and over 35 years in the internal auditing profession. Among his accomplishments at UTSA are the growth and promotion of the Office of Auditing and Consulting Services as well as the evolution and enhancement of the Office of Institutional Compliance. He started his career  as  a  gas  accountant/auditor  before  joining  the University of Texas (UT) System Audit Office in 1981. He took over the Chief Audit Executive position at UTSA in 1993 and never looked back. Dick assisted the UT System Audit Office in many initiatives over the years and was seen as a leader and point of contact for other Chief Audit Executives both in the UT System and across the nation.

Dick is held in high regard by members of the Association of College and University Auditors (ACUA). He is a past president of ACUA, was co-chair of the ACUA Risk Dictionary Committee, served as an executive sponsor of the ACUA leadership development program and was a recurring speaker at ACUA conferences. Dick also earned both the prestigious ACUA Member Excellence in Service award and ACUA’s Outstanding Professional Contribution award.

But he is also well known for dressing up at the ACUA Annual Conference dinner dances. He was the easiest to find because inevitably he was always the tallest person in the room. Who can forget him as the Grand Wizard as he became the ACUA president? Dick was a great gentleman and one of the most fair, thoughtful, and kind individual you could meet. He had an open door policy and you could bend his ear to new ideas. He will be sorely missed at UTSA, but he has his eye on coming back to teach an Internal Auditing course to pass along his wisdom to the future generation of internal auditors.

Dick plans to travel in his Airstream and enjoy their Port Aransas oasis at the Texas coast with his wife Susan who is also retiring after several years as an elementary school teacher. Dick and Susan have two sons and four grandchildren. If you want to pass along your well wishes to him, you can send him an e-mail to ddawson@gvtc.com.