After 20 years of founding programs and shaping future generations through the Texas State Honors College, Dean Heather Galloway plans to return to her roots and to teach new students in the department of physics.
The Honors College offers exclusive classes and opportunities in a smaller setting for its students. It will close a chapter with its first dean at the end of the spring 2026 semester. Galloway became the Dean of the Honors College in 2012 when it transitioned from program to college. As the head of honors was previously called the program director, she held both titles.
Galloway has been in charge of the Honors College for 20 years, first as the Director of the University Honors Program from 2007-2011, then as the dean.
“I think I’ve always known that I wanted to end my career as a faculty member,” Galloway said. “I just think it’s the real reason I got a PhD. I wanted the end of my career to be really about just doing a good job, teaching students and doing research.”
Galloway is a native Texan. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin and earned her doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley. She began teaching at Texas State in 1996 as a professor of physics, which is the same role she will return to.
“I’m having plenty of career opportunities without leaving,” Galloway said. “When I moved here, I had 13-month-old twins. That was 30 years ago, but my desire to pick my family up and move out of Texas to find a new job was really never there.”
In her time as the Dean of the Honors College, Galloway said she focused on the students. She was one of the many directors who were part of the journey to take honors from a filing cabinet and three classes to a college. One of her partners over the last few years was Peter Tschirhart, associate dean and associate professor of instruction.
“I just think she’s a legend,” Tschirhart said. “I really appreciate her directness and her go-get-’em attitude. I think those are things that really have made honors the success that it is today.”
Tschirhart said he and Galloway met when he became associate dean in 2018. In the years they have worked together, Tschirhart said Galloway accomplished a lot for the college, and he just helped her realize her vision.
“[Her vision] has been expanding opportunity for students who want a challenge and who are seeking something more from their education and making those opportunities available to as many students as we can,” Tschirhart said.
Galloway continued teaching honors courses while she was dean. Olivia Cabral, international studies senior and honors student coordinator, took one of Galloway’s classes called “Building a Greener Future: One Home at a Time,” where she evaluated energy consumption programs and how public policy affected them.
“I loved her as a professor,” Cabral said. “She’s really knowledgeable, that is the first thing that you can tell about her. I felt like I learned a lot, even though it was a science core that I needed to take.”
In her pursuit to make honors the best it can be, Galloway opened several doors for students. She established two honors societies at Texas State: Phi Kappa Phi in 2013 and Phi Beta Kappa in 2025. She also helped create the IDEA Center for student opportunities in undergraduate research and creative expression, honors scholarships and helped students apply for undergraduate research grants.
“As a dean, I have a lot of power to advocate for what’s right for students, so I think the dean is a position where you can look out and say, this is not working and students are being harmed by it and you can fix it,” Galloway said.
