The former president of the University of North Texas System’s medical school will receive more than half a million dollars in exchange for her resignation, according to a mutual termination agreement obtained by The Dallas Morning News.
Sylvia Trent-Adams, after serving more than two years in the role, stepped down Friday as president of the Fort Worth-based Health Science Center. Her departure comes as the medical school faces scrutiny over its handling of unclaimed bodies in a program that has since been suspended.
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The four-page separation agreement, obtained through an open records request, states the university system would pay her $560,000 within 30 days of her last day. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram first reported the payout figure Tuesday.
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A Health Science Center spokesperson declined to comment on the separation terms.
The medical school has not publicly disclosed the rationale for her resignation, telling The News last month she had “indicated her reasons for this departure are personal.”
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An investigation published last fall by NBC News reported the medical school’s Willed Body Program routinely used bodies for research or training without consent or approval from surviving family members.
The news network’s investigation spotlighted failures by death investigators to contact family members before declaring a body unclaimed. Those unclaimed bodies were disproportionately from people who were Black, male, had a mental illness, or experienced homelessness, the network reported.
The network reported that the university initially defended its practices, but, when informed of the investigation’s findings, it suspended the program.
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“The program has fallen short of the standards of respect, care, and professionalism that we demand,” a Health Science Center statement announcing the university’s decision reads. “The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth extends its deepest apologies to the families who have been impacted.”
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The program began under Trent-Adams’ predecessor, Michael R. Williams. In 2021, the Board of Regents appointed Williams as the university system’s chancellor after he served nearly a decade as the Health Science Center’s president
Williams signed off on Trent-Adams’ separation agreement Friday.
The agreement states it should not “be construed as an admission by either party of any liability or acts of wrongdoing or unlawful conduct, nor shall it be considered to be evidence of such liability, wrongdoing or unlawful discrimination.”
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Kirk Calhoun, who had served as president of the University of Texas at Tyler until his retirement last spring, was appointed to serve as interim president of the Health Science Center.
UNT Health Science Center president to get $560,000 payout after resignation, records show
