The Texas Tech University System Board of Regents approved the appointment of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) School of Nursing Dean Michael Evans, Ph.D., R.N., NEA-BC, FACHE, FAAN, as a Grover E. Murray Professor.

The Grover E. Murray Professorship is intended for faculty members who have attained national and international distinction in their fields for outstanding research, excellence in scholarship and creative achievement. Texas Tech University System Chancellor and TTUHSC President Tedd L. Mitchell, M.D., said Evans exemplifies all of these criteria.

“Dean Evans represents the best traditions of our university leadership,” said Mitchell. “His career reflects a common theme of bringing prestige, high standards and optimal, innovative education to the profession of nursing.”

Evans is a national leader in the profession of nursing and is sought out as an expert with more than 100 speaking engagements in the U.S. and internationally and 44 publications, many of which emphasize leadership in nursing public policy and political action.

He has received honors from many different societies and communities including Fellowship in the American Academy of Nursing, the President’s Award from the American Nurses Credentialing Center and the Distinguished Alumnus from both the University of Texas-Austin and University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston.

Evans became dean of the TTUHSC School of Nursing in 2012. Since then, the School of Nursing has expanded in size with more than 2,000 students, making the School of Nursing the largest school at TTUHSC and one of the largest in the state of Texas.

This growth is attributed to Evans’s visionary leadership, innovative administration and dedication to the excellence of the university, with concern for all students, all schools and aspects of scholarship, teaching and patient care. 

Before becoming dean of the School of Nursing, Evans was founding dean and the Maxine Clark and Bob Fox Professor for the Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College in St. Louis. He has more than 30 years of experience in hospital administration, including vice president of operations and chief nursing officer at St. David’s Health Care System in Austin, Texas, vice president for nursing and patient care support services and chief nursing officer at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, vice president for learning and chief learning officer for Texas Health Resources.

Faculty members who have been previously named Grover E. Murray professors are:

• Sharon Decker, Ph.D.
• Valdivel Ganapathy, Ph.D.
• Neil Kurtzman, M.D.
• John Orem, Ph.D.
• Gabor Racz, M.D.
• Cynthia Raehl, Pharm.D.
• Quentin Smith, Ph.D.,
• Afzal Siddiqui, Ph.D.
• Doug Stocco, Ph.D.
• Surendra Varma, M.D.
• Abraham Verghese, M.D.

The Grover E. Murray Professorship is named in honor of Grover E. Murray, the first president of TTUHSC.