Texas Tech University

Eddie Owens

2011 Outstanding Alumni

Eddie Owens earned a master's degree in mass communications, with a public relations concentration, from the College of Media & Communication at Texas Tech University in 1985. He has more than 30 years of experience in marketing and public relations and currently is director of communications and public relations for United Supermarkets, LLC, of Lubbock. With United Supermarkets, he is the chief public relations officer for the 50-store supermarket chain in north and west Texas.

Owens also holds a bachelor's degree in political science and speech from Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas, where he taught mass communications courses and served as director of public relations from 1979 to 1989. His experience includes being a sports reporter and editor for the Plainview Reporter-News and the Plainview Daily Herald.

Before joining United Supermarkets, Owens was director of marketing and public relations for the Covenant Health System in Lubbock, where he oversaw the public information functions of the largest health care organization in the western half of Texas. He was director of community relations at St. Mary of the Plains Hospital, also in Lubbock, before it became Covenant.

Owens earned APR Accreditation by the Public Relations Society of America in 1987. As such, he was one of the first public relations professionals in West Texas to earn accreditation. He is a member of the Public Relations Society of America and the Fort Worth Chapter. He is a gold medal recipient of the Association for Women in Communications and was given the Distinguished Alumni Service Award from Wayland Baptist University. He is a past member of the Mass Communications Advisory Committee at Texas Tech.

Eddie Owens