Biography

Lori Rice-Spearman, Ph.D.

President

Lori Rice-Spearman, Ph.D., took office as the ninth president of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center on June 5, 2020, making history as the first female president in the Texas Tech University System.

Dr. Rice-Spearman, a native West Texan and proud TTUHSC alumna, has a deep connection to the region, which fuels her dedication to advancing access to care in West Texas and beyond.

In June 2024, Dr. Rice-Spearman was appointed to the state’s 11-member HealthCare Workforce Task Force by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board at the governor’s request. The task force aims to address healthcare workforce shortages in Texas and meet the growing demands for healthcare services.

Under her leadership, TTUHSC achieved national recognition, including institutional membership in the National Academy of Inventors and designation as a Carnegie Classification® of Institutions of Higher Education as a Special Focus Four-Year Research Institution, placing it among 22 elite universities nationwide with curriculum focuses on health care and medicine, research, and other specialized fields. TTUHSC has been a Hispanic-serving Institution for three consecutive years. The university also received recognition for the fifth year in Modern Think’s Great Colleges to Work For program® and has been named an Honor Roll Institution for three consecutive years.

Dr. Rice-Spearman joined TTUHSC in 1987 and has held multiple leadership positions during her tenure with the university, including Provost and Chief Academic Officer and Dean of the School of Health Professions. 

As a testament to Dr. Rice-Spearman's vision and leadership, the School of Health Professions flourished under her leadership, becoming the largest such school in Texas and one of the largest in the nation, considering the breadth of programs, enrollment, and the number of graduates. The school added five “first-in-the-nation” accredited academic programs and received numerous national awards, including the prestigious Association of Allied Health Professions Excellence in Interprofessional Education Award in 2018. 

Before serving as Dean, Dr. Rice-Spearman held positions within the school, including Associate Dean for Learning Outcomes and Assessments and Chair of the Department of Laboratory Sciences and Primary Care. 

She is a nationally recognized innovator in health professions education; Dr. Rice-Spearman has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals. Additionally, she has served as an accreditation reviewer and site visitor for the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences and the Commission on Accreditation for Physical Therapy Education.

Dr. Rice-Spearman was in the inaugural class of the TTUHSC School of Health Professions Clinical Laboratory Sciences program. She earned her master’s in Interdisciplinary Studies and Ph.D. in Family and Consumer Science Education from Texas Tech University.

Dr. Rice-Spearman and her husband, Doug Spearman, are proud parents of three adult children and their spouses, and they have four grandchildren.