History of the Texas Tech System, the expansion in academic excellence

What started as one institution in 1923 is now a higher-education system with five universities and campuses across the state and globe, emerging as a leader in research and innovation.

Comprised of Texas Tech University Health Sciences, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, Angelo State University, Midwestern State University and its flagship school — Texas Tech University — the system boasts a student population of over 60,000 students.

With further investment from the State of Texas, the Texas Tech University System leadership is working on initiatives and partnerships to expand the impact of the system not just across the state but the world.

Building a system from the ground up

Prior to the formation of the system, Texas Tech and TTUHSC were a single institution until 1969, when the School of Medicine separated to form its own medical institution.

The two sister institutions at the time were led by the Board of Regents and a single president overseeing both institutions until 1996, when the system was informally created.

It wasn't until three years later that the state officially recognized the Texas Tech University System through Senate Bill 1088, written by then-State Sen. Robert Duncan.

However, before the system was officially recognized, the board faced a pressing issue — finding a leader.

Scouring the state, the board turned its focus on a well-accomplished state senator who had a record of representing Tech in Austin and advocating for higher education.

John T. Montford said he turned down the board's offer to serve as chancellor three times before the chair of the board — Edward E. Whitacre Jr. — convinced him to accept the offer.

Being the founding chancellor, Montford said he had to define his position within the system leadership.

"The first thing I wanted to do was shore up my staff in relation to coordination with the general academic institution and the medical components," he said.

Quickly taking notes, he figured out that his role was to champion the system and ensure each institution received enough funding to embark on its initiatives to compete in academia.

"Texas Tech, as I viewed it, was a sleeping giant," he said. "Frankly, I thought we could be and were as competitive with UT and A&M - we just didn't have the kind of money they had with their Permanent University Fund."

Launching the Horizon Campaign, the then-chancellor set out on an ambitious campaign making 357 development calls and traveling the state and nation to raise money in his five-year tenure.

In total, Montford's campaign raised $511 million, with 90% going to funding academic objectives. The rest of the funding went to construct the then-United Spirit Arena and update Jones AT&T Stadium

Montford said his main goal was also to bridge the gap between alumni and the universities.

Laying a solid foundation for others to build on, Montford decided to step down from his role in 2001.

"I feel honored to be able to serve in that capacity, and I think that the strength of that position continues," Montford said.

In 2007, the system grew to include ASU, with TTUHSC's El Paso campus becoming its own stand-alone institution in 2013 and MSU Texas joining in 2021.

Under the direction of five chancellors and numerous regents over the years, the system alsoadded the state's newest pharmacy, dental and veterinarian school, the TTU Costa Rica campus, anaviation program at ASU and many more schools, institutes and degrees.

The sleeping giant on the South Plains awakens

The chancellor also works closely with and is the only employee who reports directly to the ninemembers of the Board of Regents.

With regents being appointed to the board for a six-year term by the governor, the current board is led by Chairman Mark Griffin of Lubbock who said the regents act as policymakers for the system and the five institutions while also overseeing their budgets.

"We can set fees and tuition," Griffin said. "We also approve new programs or new initiatives that the respective campuses bring to us in expanding the offerings and the curriculum as it relates to those particular campuses and their students."

Unlike the University of Texas and Texas A&M Systems, Griffin said TTUS allows each school that joins to keep its individual identity and initiatives.

"We think that brings some real value and while it would allow us the independence of that particular campus, I think it also breeds trust back to the system," he said. "When that occurs, I think we've got some great opportunities to take some meaningful and impactful actions on behalf of students and the faculty there at those campuses."

While some of those actions still champion system growth both academically and financially, the leadership on the TTUS Board of Regents is fostering a new idea — innovation through collaboration.

In January 2022, the board charged the Academic, Clinical and Student Affairs Standing Committee of the system to increase research dollars to TTU while also preserving the mission of the system and its institutions.

Regent Ginger Kerrick Davis, who serves as vice chair of the board and chair of the ACS Committee, has taken this charge and expanded on it, drawing on her experience as former flight director at NASA.

"We kicked off an effort to increase our research, particularly in the area of (National Institute of Health) funds, because that has been historically underutilized in the human health area," she said. "So I challenged the presidents to come up with three collaborative initiatives."

During the August 2023 regents meeting, each institution updated the board. Here are the partnerships and what the goals of them are:

• MSU & ASU — fostering partnerships in curriculum and research through the faculty. A proposal is currently in the works to be submitted this fall to the National Science Foundation.

• TTU & TTUHSC — The creation of the One Health Institute would have the One Health doctoral Program underneath it that looks at how human, animal and environmental health affect each other.

• TTU, TTUHSC & TTUHSC El Paso — Collaborations are occurring around the state for cancer centers, brain tissue repositories, telehealth and diabetes research.

The 88th Texas Legislature supported these initiatives during the session through the $10 million investment to create the new Institute for Telehealth and Digital Innovation at TTUHSC, along with another project receiving substantial funding.

"We got $65 million for the Cancer Center in El Paso," Kerrick Davis said. "That will benefit the specific cancer challenges and needs of the El Paso region."

She also said she wants not only the universities involved in this collaboration, but also the system's alumni.

"What if every alumnus picked something that was in their field and reached out to a student in one of our five universities? How many lives could we touch if we did that and how many more notable Texas Tech University System graduates could we produce," she asked.

Earlier this month, Texas voters OK'd the creation of the Texas University Fund, a $3.9 billion endowment set to support Tech and other emerging Texas universities with millions of dollars in additional research funding every year.

Both Griffin and Kerrick Davis agreed the system is primed for its next milestone in 25 years.

"We've got a launchpad to really take this system to new heights in ways that I probably couldn't even envision," Griffin said.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech System primed to be leaders in research, academics