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Office of the Chancellor 
Texas Tech University System 

System Administration Building
1508 Knoxville Ave., Ste. 306
Box 42013
Lubbock, TX 79409-2013

Phone: 806.742.0012

Fax: 806.742.8050 

8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Central, Monday - Friday

Tedd L. Mitchell, M.D.

Tedd L. Mitchell, M.D.Chancellor, Texas Tech University System

Printable Bio (PDF) | High-Resolution Photo

Tedd L. Mitchell, M.D., was named the fifth chancellor of the Texas Tech University System (TTU System) on Oct. 25, 2018.

As chancellor, Mitchell is the CEO of a nearly $3 billion, five-university higher education enterprise consisting of Texas Tech University (TTU), Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC), Angelo State University (ASU), Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso (TTUHSC El Paso) and Midwestern State University (MSU Texas).

Collectively, the TTU System enrolls approximately 63,000 students, has an endowment valued at more than $1.7 billion and operates at 24 academic locations in 20 cities (18 in Texas, 2 internationally).

Mitchell works collaboratively with the TTU System Board of Regents, TTU System Administration and university presidents to enhance the TTU System’s profile and support shared missions of advancing higher education, health care, research and community outreach. Additionally, Mitchell guides the TTU System’s engagement with elected officials in Austin and federal leaders in Washington, D.C., to further increase funding and support.

During the 88th Texas Legislature in 2023, Mitchell led the TTU System to monumental success as the system’s five component universities received significant funding to support strategic institutional initiatives. This investment from the state included nearly $130 million dedicated to exceptional items across the system, and – if passed through a statewide constitutional amendment in November 2023 – the establishment of the Texas University Fund (TUF). With an initial investment of more than $3 billion, the TUF would support research institutions including TTU, University of Houston, University of North Texas and Texas State University. The initial distribution for TTU (for fiscal year 2024) is projected to be $44 million.

Mitchell was named a finalist for The Dallas Morning News (DMN) 2022 Texan of the Year. Among the 12 finalists selected, Mitchell was recognized for his leadership of the TTU System’s pursuit of establishing the state’s first dental school in over half a century and the state’s first veterinary school in more than 100 years. Both programs finished their first academic year in the spring of 2022, a feat the DMN touted as getting rural Texans on the radar of the state legislators in Austin and a mission to boost health care and agriculture across small towns across Texas.

Mitchell was instrumental in securing the system’s partnership with MSU Texas, which officially joined as the fifth member institution of the TTU System on Sept. 1, 2021, following the 87th Texas legislative session when Gov. Greg Abbott authorized House Bill 1522.

Historic milestones were achieved under Mitchell’s leadership in 2019 during the 86th Texas Legislature, when legislative support and approval was provided to establish the TTU School of Veterinary Medicine in Amarillo and the Hunt School of Dental Medicine at TTUHSC El Paso. The addition of these two schools made the TTU System one of only nine in the nation to offer programs for undergraduate, medical, law, nursing, pharmacy, dental and veterinary education, among other academic areas.

Mitchell also implemented a values-based culture at the TTU System Administration, where all employees embarked on a journey together to identify and establish a set of commonly shared values. Nearly 200 team members determined People First, Integrity, Community, Respect and Exemplary Service as the five shared values of the TTU System Administration.

Mitchell first joined the TTU System when he was named the eighth president of TTUHSC on May 17, 2010. He held a dual appointment as chancellor and president for approximately one year until deciding to close his presidential tenure in 2019 after nearly a decade at the helm of TTUHSC. He is the longest-tenured president in the 52-year history of the university and led the institution to monumental milestones, record growth in enrollment, academic excellence and physical campus expansion.

During Mitchell’s tenure as president, TTUHSC and its leadership spearheaded the university’s first fundraising campaign, a $100-million initiative, and successfully implemented a values-based culture at the university and its six campuses across the state. In 2013, Mitchell helped transform TTUHSC’s regional campus in El Paso into a standalone university and the system’s fourth institution, TTUHSC El Paso.

Prior to arriving at TTUHSC, Mitchell served as president and CEO of the Cooper Clinic in Dallas, an internationally recognized center of excellence in preventive and sports medicine. Mitchell earned a Bachelor of Science at Stephen F. Austin State University in 1983. He is an Ashbel Smith Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Texas Medical Branch, where he received his Doctor of Medicine in 1987, and, in 2012, he was honored as a distinguished alumnus of the Department of Internal Medicine. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American College of Sports Medicine. From 1988 to 1996, he served as a captain in the U.S. Army Reserves (Medical Corps).

His research interest is focused on the effects of activity and lifestyle on health. Dr. Mitchell has authored or co-authored dozens of scientific papers, abstracts and book chapters. He also is a frequent lecturer, both nationally and internationally, on the physiology of exercise and the effects of exercise on aging, fitness and overall quality of life. In 2002, Mitchell was appointed by President George W. Bush to the President’s Council for Physical Fitness and Sports and served until 2009.

As health editor and a weekly columnist for USA Weekend from 1998 to 2010, Mitchell published more than 600 articles. He received the 2006 Clarion Award and the 2008 Walter C. Alvarez Award for Excellence in Medical Communication from the American Medical Writers Association. His writing led to collaborative efforts with other health experts, culminating in the publication of the books Fit to Lead, Move Yourself and Fit to Lead II.

Mitchell is married to Janet Tornelli-Mitchell, M.D. They met while in medical school and practiced together for nearly two decades. As the TTU System’s first lady, Tornelli-Mitchell has led a health and wellness initiative that is offered to employees of the TTU System through the Employees Retirement System of Texas benefits program.

The Mitchells have three children: Katherine Schwartz, an assistant district attorney in Dallas; Charlie, a petroleum engineer and TTU alumnus, who is pursuing a master’s degree at Harvard University; and Chris, a TTU and Villanova alumnus, who is pursuing a career in the military. They have two grandchildren, Isabelle Grace and Cooper Benjamin.