Texas Tech Fund-Raising Reaches $26 Million Goal for Faculty Support

Written by Michael Castellon

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: Jan. 24, 2006
CONTACT: Michael Castellon, m.castellon@ttu.edu

LUBBOCK – Texas Tech University has generated $20 million and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center has added $6 million in Regents Professorships and Chairs for a total of more than $26 million in new faculty support, Chancellor David Smith announced.

The fund-raising effort caps a 2-year initiative launched by the Texas Tech Board of Regents, who set aside $10 million from the sale of right-of-way for the Marsha Sharp Freeway project. The money was used to use to match donor gifts.

The Texas Tech University System internally established Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Regents Professorships and Chairs. The Health Sciences Center provided a one-third match for each professorship and chair.

Smith said the professorships and chairs allow the university to recruit and retain exceptional 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," Smith said. "Regents Professorships and Chairs bring prestige to our most outstanding faculty and recognition to our donors."

Regents Chairs are currently funded with a minimum endowment of $1 million. 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.

“Students benefit the most from this because a classroom or laboratory that is led by an inspired and committed professor is a place where the impossible becomes possible," Smith said.

University officials emphasize that acquiring additional chairs and professorships is an ongoing initiative even though the funds set aside by the Regents have now been matched.

Nine 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
* The Department of Range, Wildlife and Fisheries Management
* Two chairs in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences

In addition, Texas Tech University has added 15 Regents Professorships, worth $500,000 each. These include:

* 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 Restaurant/Hotel Management
* The Department of Special Education – Autism
* Two Professorships for the Center for the Study of Addiction
* 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

- 30 -

CONTACT: Sheila Allee, Director of Executive Communications and Publications, 806-742-2136 or sheila.allee@ttu.edu.