AUSTIN, Texas—Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey will join the University of Texas as a professor who this fall will teach in the university’s Department of Radio-Television-Film.
McConaughey has been a visiting instructor at the flagship campus in Austin since 2015 and the university said in a statement on Aug. 28 that the appointment recognizes his “outstanding work as a teacher and mentor.”
He will continue teaching a Script to Screen film production class for which he developed the course curriculum.
The university says McConaughey is respected for his “willingness to work with students beyond the classroom.”
McConaughey earned a film degree from the school in 1993. He’s appeared in more than 50 films, including “Dazed and Confused,” ″The Wolf of Wall Street” and “Dallas Buyers Club,” for which he won an Oscar and Golden Globe for his leading role.
A Moment to Remember
McConaughey’s Best Actor Oscar acceptance speech was in 2014.
“Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you to the Academy for this—all 6,000 members.” After saying thank you for all people, including the other nominees, his director, and his family members, etc, he tells the audience “three things” he needs every day:
“One of them is something to look up to, another is something to look forward to, and another is someone to chase.”
He reveals “his hero” that he’s got to chase and keeps chasing every day.
Watch the video and see who his hero is that he has chased for all his life.
McConaughey Receives Original High School Diploma
McConaughey has finally received his high school diploma, more than 30 years after graduating.
McConaughey was given his original diploma on Aug. 16 when he returned to his Texas alma mater to address the class of 2019.
A Longview High School spokeswoman told the Longview News-Journal that graduates normally receive diploma holders during commencement ceremonies and that the actual diplomas must be picked up later. She said McConaughey never got his.
The 49-year-old graduated from Longview in 1988. He responded to receiving his diploma with one word: “proof.”
McConaughey lives in Austin. He won an Oscar for his performance in “Dallas Buyers Club.”
He told the new graduates that he’d succeeded because he followed his heart and that they should guard and follow theirs.
VIDEO: Longview High School graduates addressed by alum Matthew McConaughey: https://t.co/J65uHcPlPD @MRMCCONAUGHEY1 @LongviewISD pic.twitter.com/NvuSTJUuId
— KLTV 7 (@KLTV7) May 18, 2019
CNN Wire and Epoch Times reporter Sunny Chao contributed to this report.