Development

Texas Tech Nears Goal In Regents Chairs

Texas Tech University is nearing a goal set when its Regents Faculty Endowment Program was established in 2003.

To date, Texas Tech University has generated $18.2 million, and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center has added $6 million in Regents Professorships and Chairs for a total of more than $24.2 million. That's less than $2 million away from the program's goal of more than $26 million in new funds to support faculty and students.

Chancellor David Smith said the program allows the university to recruit and retain stellar faculty members. The primary goal is to add nationally and internationally recognized scholars who bring excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and leadership.

“Faculty members rely on endowments to enhance their research and teaching endeavors," said Smith. "Named Regents Professorships bring prestige to our most outstanding faculty and recognition to our donors, and this goal is an important milestone for the university, its faculty and its students."

Endowed Chairs and Professorships are established to support a faculty member pursuing excellence in teaching and research. Regents Chairs are currently funded with a minimum endowment of one million dollars. A Regents Professorship is funded by a minimum endowment of $500,000.

Chairs and Professorships may be named for the donor or a person or other entity of the donor’s choosing. Spendable earnings on the endowment may be used to supplement the faculty member’s salary and to support their research, creative activity and teaching.

Provost Bill Marcy said the Regents Chairs and Professorships have enabled the university's colleges and departments to make significant academic enhancements.

"One example of the impact of the Regent’s Chairs and Professorships is the opportunity created for interdisciplinary work between the Rawls College of Business Administration and the College of Engineering," said Marcy. "The Bagley Chairs in the Rawls College of Business and in the College of Engineering are intended to bring a new focus to entrepreneurship opportunities for students in both colleges."

“The big winners here are the students because a classroom or laboratory that is led by an inspired and committed professor is a place where dreams and aspirations take root," Smith said. "That dynamic alone bears the potential to catapult both TTU and TTUHSC to new levels of distinction.”

University officials emphasize that this is an ongoing initiative – more Regents Chairs and Professorships are being established every year.

Eight new Regents Chairs have been added, at $1 million apiece, to seven different Texas Tech colleges and departments, including:

  • The College of Engineering
  • The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
  • The Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
  • The Department of Entrepreneurship
  • The Department of Management
  • The Department of Mechanical Engineering
  • Two chairs in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences

In addition, Texas Tech University has added 14 Regents Professorships, worth $500,000 each. These include:

  • The Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery
  • The College of Architecture
  • The Department of Health, Exercise and Sport Sciences
  • The Department of Information Systems and Quantitative Sciences
  • The Department of Language and Literacy
  • The Department of Mathematics and Statistics
  • The Department of Plant and Soil Sciences
  • The Department of Restaurant/Hotel Management
  • The Department of Special Education – Autism
  • Two professorships in the School of Law
  • Two professorships in the College of Mass Communications
  • Two professorships in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences

Endowed Chairs and Professorships at the Health Sciences Center include:

  • A chair in the School of Medicine at El Paso for $1.5 million
  • A chair in Alzheimer’s research at the Garrison Institute on Aging
  • A chair in Alzheimer's research in the School of Medicine
  • A chair for Parkinson’s disease research in the School of Medicine
  • A professorship in rural health disparities in the School of Nursing
  • Two professorships in the School of Medicine in El Paso

Scott Slemmons

 

Jan 15, 2020