Tech System’s Tedd Mitchell to leave position as HSC president to become full-time chancellor

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - Dr. Tedd L. Mitchell, the Texas Tech University System chancellor, is set to leave his position as president of the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center and become the system’s full-time chancellor.

Mitchell will leave the position on Friday, Nov. 1 — one he has been in since May of 2010. Lori Rice-Spearman, who was selected by the HSC as the provost and chief academic chair on Friday, Oct. 1, will take over as interim president.

The System’s Board of Regents will announce details of its plan to search for a new president of the HSC within the coming weeks, according to the System.

Mitchell was formally selected as the system chancellor in October of 2018. Since that time he has served as both chancellor and HSC president.

“We are experiencing significant momentum and success at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and the Texas Tech University System, and both institutions deserve to have chief executive officers solely dedicated to advancing their priorities,” Mitchell said in a System news release. “That said, serving TTUHSC for nearly 10 years alongside a team of incredible faculty, students and staff has been a highlight of my career.

Mitchell is the longest-serving president the HSC has had in its 50 years of existence. Since he began his tenure, the HSC has seen record enrollment growth, expansion on the Lubbock campus and the establishment of the Texas Tech HSC El Paso — the system’s fourth university.

“Dr. Mitchell has been an extraordinary leader for Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center during his near-decade of service as president,” Christopher M. Huckabee, chairman of the board of regents, said. “TTUHSC has experienced a transformative era under Tedd’s administration with record-breaking enrollment, research funding, employee and student satisfaction and physical campus growth. Moving forward, the Board of Regents is extremely thankful to have Tedd leading the way as chancellor and providing our system and its institutions with his dynamic vision and steady guidance.”

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