Matthew McConaughey joins University of Texas as professor

Matthew McConaughey is to be a professor at the University of Texas Credit: Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File

Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey is to join the University of Texas as a professor in the autumn.

The 49-year-old will teach in the university’s Department of Radio-Television-Film, having been a visiting instructor at the flagship campus in Austin since 2015.

The university said in a statement on Wednesday that the appointment recognised 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 said McConaughey was respected for his “willingness to work with students beyond the classroom”.

McConaughey earned a film degree from the school in 1993.

He has 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 a Golden Globe.