General Information
Mission
As a public research university, Texas Tech advances knowledge through innovative and creative teaching, research, and scholarship. The university is dedicated to student success by preparing learners to be ethical leaders for a diverse and globally competitive workforce. The university is committed to enhancing the cultural and economic development of the state, nation, and world.
Campuses
Texas Tech University is the largest institution of the Texas Tech University System. More than 31,600 students attend classes in Lubbock on the 1,839-acre campus. The university also operates the Research Center–East Campus (Lubbock); Texas Tech University Farm at Pantex in the Texas Panhandle; research facilities at Reese Technology Center (west of Lubbock); agricultural field laboratories at New Deal; Texas Tech University Center at Junction (411-acre educational facility in the Texas Hill Country); and off-campus educational sites at El Paso, Fredericksburg, Highland Lakes, and Waco.
History
Texas Tech University was created by legislative action in 1923 and has the distinction of being the largest comprehensive higher education institution in the western two-thirds of the state of Texas. The university is the major institution of higher education in a region larger than 46 of the nation’s 50 states and is the only campus in Texas that is home to a major university, law school, and medical school.
Originally named Texas Technological College, the college opened in 1925 with six buildings and an enrollment of 914. Graduate instruction did not begin until 1927 within the School of Liberal Arts. A “Division of Graduate Studies” was established in 1935 and eventually became known as the Graduate School in 1954.
By action of the Texas State Legislature, Texas Technological College formally became Texas Tech University on September 1, 1969. At that time the schools of Agricultural Sciences, Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, Education, Engineering, and Home Economics also became known as “colleges.” Architecture became a college in 1986. Two colleges changed their names in 1993 to reflect the broadening fields each serves: the College of Agricultural Sciences became the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and the College of Home Economics became the College of Human Sciences. The Honors College was established in 1998, and the College of Visual and Performing Arts opened in 2002. Media and Communication became a college in 2004.
The Texas State Legislature authorized funds in 1965 for establishing the Texas Tech University School of Law, and the Law School’s first dean was appointed in 1966. The first class of 72 students enrolled in 1967. The Law School was approved by the American Bar Association in 1970 and is fully accredited by the Supreme Court of Texas (1968) and the Association of American Law Schools (1969).
As a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, Texas Tech began competing in the Big 12 Conference in 1996 after a 35-year membership in the former Southwest Conference.
Texas Tech was first accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 1928 and has been accredited continuously since that time. Texas Tech University was selected to shelter a Phi Beta Kappa chapter in 2006.
The presidents of Texas Tech have been Paul Whitfield Horn (1925–1932), Bradford Knapp (1932–1938), Clifford Bartlett Jones (1938–1944), William Marvin Whyburn (1944–1948), Dossie Marion Wiggins (1948–1952), Edward Newlon Jones (1952–1959), Robert Cabaniss Goodwin (1960–1966), Grover Elmer Murray (1966–1976), Maurice Cecil Mackey Jr., (1976–1979), Lauro Fred Cavazos (1980–1988), Robert W. Lawless (1989–1996), Donald R. Haragan (1996–2000), David J. Schmidly (2000-2002), Jon Whitmore (2003-2008), and Guy Bailey (2008-present).
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center was created by the 61st Legislature of the State of Texas in 1969 as a separate university to address problems of health care delivery in rural areas and to develop education programs emphasizing primary care throughout West Texas.
The School of Medicine—the initial operational phase of the Health Sciences Center—admitted its first students in 1972. In 1981 the state legislature funded schools of Nursing and Allied Health. Nursing students were first admitted in August 1982 with Allied Health students admitted in 1983. In the fall of 1996, the School of Pharmacy admitted its first class. The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, originally a part of the School of Medicine, became a separate school in 1994 to coordinate the training of biomedical students. The Paul L. Foster School of Medicine in El Paso enrolled its first class of students in August 2009 as the only four-year medical school on the U.S.–Mexico border.
The institution of higher education that became Angelo State University began in 1928, two years after San Angelo citizens, disappointed their city was not selected as the site for Texas Technological College, voted to create San Angelo Junior College. The name was changed to Angelo State College in 1965, the year the institution became a four-year college, and to Angelo State University in 1969. Angelo State awarded its first baccalaureate degrees in 1967 and its first master’s degrees in 1972.
Angelo State University consists of a College of Graduate Studies, College of Business, College of Education, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and College of Sciences. Angelo State has an Honors Program and an International Program. Angelo State has an Honors Program and an International Program.
Organizational Structure
A nine-member Board of Regents governs Texas Tech University, Angelo State University and the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. The Governor of the State of Texas appoints the Regents to six-year terms. The terms of office of three Regents expire every two years. The governance, control, and direction of the university are vested in the Regents who in turn appoint a Chancellor to carry out the policies of the system as determined by the Regents. The Chancellor appoints a president of each institution in the system. The presidents are chief executive officers of their respective institutions and responsible for the strategic operation of each institution. The President of Texas Tech University is supported by a Provost and Senior Vice President who oversees the educational and student support programs of the university; a Vice President for Administration and Finance who is responsible for the fiscal operations of the university and the physical plant; a Vice President for Research who directs the research efforts of the university; and a Vice President for Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Community Engagement who supports the institution’s strategic diversity goals by providing programs, services, and resources.
Texas Tech University consists of the Graduate School; School of Law; Honors College; the Colleges of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Architecture, Arts and Sciences, Business, Education, Engineering, Human Sciences, Media and Communication, and Visual and Performing Arts. Each college is administered by a dean and consists of a number of instructional departments or areas.
Board of Regents
Officers
Mickey L. Long, Chair
Larry K. Anders, Vice Chair
Ben W. Lock, Secretary
Christina Martinez, Assistant Secretary to the Board of Regents
Regents
Term Expires January 31, 2015
John B. Walker.......................Houston
Mickey L. Long........................Midland
Nancy Neal............................Lubbock
Term Expires January 31, 2017
Larry K. Anders.........................Dallas
Debbie Montford..............San Antonio
John Steinmetz.....................Arlington
Term Expires January 31, 2019
John Esparza...........................Austin
L. Frederick “Rick” Francis......El Paso
Tim Lancaster.........................Abilene
Student Regent
Term Expires May 31, 2013
Suzanne Taylor....................Arlington
Office of the Chancellor
Date following rank indicates calendar year of initial appointment to Texas Tech.
 |
Kent R. Hance, J.D. Chancellor |
Kent R. Hance, Chancellor, Professor of Law, 2006. B.B.A., Texas Tech, 1965; J.D., Texas, 1968.
Jim Brunjes, Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer, 1991. B.A., Texas A&M, 1969; M.Stat., 1972.
John Huffaker, Vice Chancellor and General Counsel, 2012. B.S., Texas Tech, 1970; J.D., 1974.
Joseph Rallo, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, 2012. B.A.,Lafayette Coll.,1971; J.D., Western New England, 1976; M.A., Syracuse; 1978; Ph.D.,1980.
John Michael Sanders, Vice Chancellor for Governmental Relations, 1969. B.A., Abilene Christian, 1966; J.D., Texas Tech, 1970.
Kelly Overley, Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement, 2003. B.A., Texas Tech, 1992; M.Ed., Texas (El Paso), 1997; Ed.D., 2006.
Michael S. Molina, Vice Chancellor for Facilities Planning and Construction, 2010. B. Arch., Texas Tech, 1991.
Jodey C. Arrington, Vice Chancellor for Research, Commercialization and Federal Relations, 2007. B.S., Texas Tech, 1994; M.A., M.P. A., 1997.
John Opperman, Vice Chancellor for Policy and Planning, 2002. B.A., Texas Tech, 1977; M.P. A., Texas, 1982; Ph.D., 1994.
Russell H. Thomasson, Chief of Staff and Counsel to the Chancellor, 2007. B.B.A., Texas Tech, 1998; J.D., Texas, 2001.
Robert Giovannetti, Associate Vice Chancellor for Communications and Marketing, 2011. B.A., Texas Tech, 1992.
Kay Rhodes, Associate Vice Chancellor and Chief Information Officer, 1980. B.A., Baylor, 1976.
Kimberly F. Turner, Chief Audit Executive, 1997. B.B.A., Texas Tech, 1990; M.S., 1990.
Ben W. Lock, Executive Assistant to the Chancellor and Secretary of the Board of Regents, 1996. B.B.A., Texas, 1981; M.B.A., 1984.
Pat Campbell, Advisor to the Board of Regents, 1981. B.S., Texas Tech, 1968; J.D., 1971.
Christina Martinez, Assistant Secretary to the Board of Regents, 1996. B.B.A., Texas Tech, 2001.
Office of the President
Date following rank indicates calendar year of initial appointment to Texas Tech.
 |
M. Duane Nellis, Ph.D. President |
M. Duane Nellis, President, 2013. B.S., Montana State, 1976; M.S., Oregon State, 1977; Ph.D., 1980.
Robert Smith, Provost and Senior Vice President. Professor of Chemistry, 2009. B.S., St. John’s, 1963; M.S., Michigan, 1964; Ph.D., 1968.
Kyle Clark, Vice President for Administration and Finance and Chief Financial Officer, 2000. B.B.A., Texas Tech, 2004; M.B.A., 2006.
Michael San Francisco, Interim Vice President for Research, Professor of Biological Sciences, 1990. B.S., U. of Agricultural Sciences (India), 1977; M.A., Massachusetts (Boston), 1980; Ph.D., 1984.
Juan S. Muñoz, Senior Vice President for Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Community Engagement; Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Student Affairs; Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, 2004.
B.A., California (Santa Barbara), 1990; M.A., California (Los Angeles),
1994; Ph.D., 2000.
In this section
by subject:
Mission
Campuses
History
Organization
Board of Regents
Office of the Chancellor
Office of the President
