The First Woman President of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

The Texas Tech University System board of regents recently named Lori Rice-Spearman as the ninth president of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock. She has served as interim president since November 2019. Dr. Rice-Spearman will be the first woman to lead the university.

Dr. Rice-Spearman joined TTUHSC in 1987 and served as chair of the department of laboratory sciences and primary care. She has also has held numerous positions in university administration. She was named associate provost in 2018 and held that role concurrently with her position as dean of the School of Health Professions. In October 2019, Dr. Rice Spearman was appointed provost and chief academic officer.

“Thirty-three years ago, I joined the TTUHSC faculty as an academic instructor in the then-School of Allied Health Sciences,” Dr. Rice-Spearman said. “I found great joy in that job, in part because I had been a student in those very seats at TTUHSC just years before. Today, I am humbled beyond words at the opportunity to serve as the next president of this great university.

A native of Odessa, Texas, Dr. Rice-Spearman is an alumna of the school’s first class of the clinical laboratory sciences program. She went on to earn a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from Texas Tech University.