Dr. Hector Quintanilla takes a moment to savor the students name that he’s about to call out into the microphone in his hand. He loves graduation day because he loves the moment before he calls out a student’s name, calling out the students name, and greeting the student as they pass over the threshold and become graduates of Texas Wesleyan.  

He enjoys the feel of the palpable excitement in the air and seeing each shining face as they take in the fact that all of their hard work has paid off and they’ve made it to graduation day. 

“In working with Dr. Quintanilla, I’ve found him foremost and quite clearly to have Wesleyan’s students at heart in every consideration and decision he makes. It’s been a joy working with him, and I know the academy is in good hands,” said Dr. Helena Bussell, associate provost. 

Before Quintanilla joined the Texas Wesleyan staff, he was a registered CPA and decided that he would prefer being in the education field so he went back to school in 1990 and got his Ph.D. at University of Texas Arlington in 1995. 

Quintanilla has been in the education field for 25 years – including the time he was in college himself. He started his career at Texas Wesleyan as a visiting faculty member in 1995 where he taught working students on the weekend. In 1996, he became a full-time faculty member in accounting where he stayed for ten years until he became the dean of the School of Business. He stayed in this position until August of 2019 when he was appointed the position of Provost for the Interim. 

He was chosen as the permanent provost after the search committee selected him from a pool of 65 other candidates in March. 

The provost office is where all decisions about how the school is run are made. That includes budgets, what classes will be held/not held, who teaches what classes and what happens when there is a natural disaster (inclement weather, etc.). 

“Throughout the pandemic, Dr. Quintanilla has continued to foster a sense of security through his transparency in action and his commitment to our continued success as an institution and individuals. Working with Dr. Quintanilla has been a really positive experience,” said Amber Tejeda, director of academic operations. 

Quintanilla’s other favorite activities are golfing, working in the yard and restoring his 1993 convertible Mustang. 

His most cherished achievement is getting the Texas Wesleyan School of Business certified at the AACSB International (Advanced Collegiate Schools of Business) in 2014. This is a difficult program to get accredited through because they only accept 5% of the colleges that apply to be in their accreditation program. 

“I have worked with Dr. Quintanilla since 2009, and have always appreciated his ability to get to the core of an issue and work on a quick and equitable resolution,” said Steven Daniell, associate provost of academic affairs. 

If Quintanilla were to go back to college for any degree, then he would go back and get his degree in technology because of how far technology has come in the last 20 years.