Brian Still, professor of technical communication, was officially appointed by the Office of the Provost as Vice Provost for Texas Tech University Online, effective June 1, 2022.

Still, who received his Ph.D. from the University of South Dakota, previously worked in government and industry as a web and software developer, and taught at the University of Minnesota, before joining Texas Tech as a faculty member in 2002. From 2017 to 2021 he served as chair of the department of English, and from 2021 to 2022 was interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. In addition to authoring publications on topics including product usability, complex user systems, and user-centered design, he is named on three issued U.S. and international patents. He has also graduated 19 doctoral students and mentored others as former director of the User Experience (UX) Research Lab (URL).

Taking advantage of technology that he developed in the URL in 2010, Still and his research team created an affordable eye tracking research system, commercializing it in 2011. He then founded a company, EyeGuide, around that technology, eventually innovating two other products—EyeGuide Mobile Tracker and EyeGuide Assist—that, among other things, allowed people with little to no use of their hands the ability to control a computer mouse with their eyes. Of late, EyeGuide has created Focus, a hardware and software platform intended for use in the field, that administers a seamless 10-second test to detect potential neurological impairment.

EyeGuide Focus has been featured by CNN and was a finalist for the NFL's 1st and Future event hosted at Super Bowl LII in 2018. The technology is currently being used by major organizations and clients across the U.S. and internationally, including professional sports teams, healthcare systems and academic institutions.