Keino McWhinney
Secretary of the Board of Regents and Special Advisor to the Chancellor
Keino McWhinney serves as Secretary of the Board of Regents and Special Advisor to the Chancellor for the Texas Tech University System. McWhinney was named to his position on Dec. 1, 2019.
McWhinney assists the Board of Regents members in their duties and acts as a liaison between the Board and Texas Tech University System personnel. He is responsible for the production of materials and the coordination of logistics for all meetings of the Board and the Board’s committees.
McWhinney is a familiar face to those within the TTU System having previously served in two roles at system component institutions. He joined the TTU System in 2009 and spent seven years as a special assistant to the president at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. During that time, McWhinney spent from January to September of 2014 serving as the interim director of operations for the Garrison Institute on Aging at TTUHSC. Most recently, McWhinney rejoined the Texas Tech family when he was appointed director of the Texas Tech Mental Health Institute (TTMHI) in May 2018.
As the TTMHI director, McWhinney facilitated opportunities for coordination and collaboration on mental health related issues between the component institutions of the TTU System and the community. Additionally, he worked with stakeholders, both locally and across the state, to foster meaningful dialogue aimed at influencing policy and promoting open communication on mental health related efforts – including his service as a member of the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium and the Statewide Behavioral Health Coordinating Council.
The mental health initiative started in Fall 2016 when leadership at TTUHSC and TTU began the process of assessing mental health related activities at each institution.
Prior to returning to the TTU System, McWhinney served as the Community Wellness Supervisor in the Population Health Department for CoxHealth, a five-hospital health system in Springfield, Missouri, that serves southwestern Missouri and northwestern Arkansas.
Contact Keino McWhinney at keino.mcwhinney@ttu.edu or (806) 742-2161.