TTU System Board of Regents Approves Appointment of Grover E. Murray Professor

TTUHSC Professor from Amarillo Campus Receives Highest Faculty Honor

• By Meaghan Collier
• August 13, 2026
• Education

The Texas Tech University System Board of Regents today (Aug. 13) approved the appointment of Rodney Young, M.D., from the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) School of Medicine, as a Grover E. Murray Professor.

The Grover E. Murray Professorship is named in honor of the eighth president of Texas Tech University and is intended for faculty members who have attained national and international distinction in their field for outstanding research, excellence in scholarship and creative achievement. TTUHSC President Lori Rice-Spearman, Ph.D., said Young is an exceptional ambassador of the mission and values of TTUHSC.

“At TTUHSC, we proudly envision a healthier future with access to quality care for every Texan, and Rodney Young exemplifies that passionate charge every time he sets foot on the Amarillo campus,” Rice-Spearman said. “Whether advocating for fellow physicians in Austin, caring passionately for his patients, who have come to consider him a trusted friend and adviser or guiding students as they become exceptional healthcare providers, he brings a heart of service to everything he does. His impact extends far beyond the Panhandle, and he has been an inspiration to so many.”   

Young joined the TTUHSC School of Medicine in 2000 as an assistant professor in the TTUHSC Department of Family and Community Medicine. He currently serves as professor and regional chair of the department in Amarillo, a position he has held since 2003. Young is a graduate of the TTUHSC School of Medicine and also completed his family medicine residency at TTUHSC. He has devoted more than 25 years to advancing the institution’s mission of patient care, education, scholarship and service.

“They say if you love what you do, then you’ll never work a day in your life; by that reasoning, I don’t expect to ever get much work done around here,” Young said. “At TTUHSC, I found a career that is purpose-built for service to our patients, our students, our colleagues and our West Texas communities. Our work has both immediate and enduring impact, helping our friends and neighbors navigate the complexities of our healthcare system, while cultivating, supporting and developing the next generation of doctors and other health professionals to do the same. It’s an honor to be able to do this work, and it’s a legacy that I am deeply proud to be a part of.” 

Recognized across Texas and nationally as a leader in family medicine and graduate medical education, Young’s scholarly contributions include more than 30 peer-reviewed publications, including research recognized with the Rufus A. Lyman Award for most outstanding research paper published in the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. He has delivered invited presentations for regional, national and international audiences and was elected to serve on the Texas Medical Association Board of Trustees. He also has served as chair of the Texas Medical Association Councils on Medical Education and Socioeconomics and has held leadership roles within the Texas Academy of Family Physicians and the American Medical Association.

For more than 23 years as regional chair, Young has led the growth of family and community medicine in Amarillo while advancing undergraduate and graduate medical education. He has received the TTUHSC Dean’s Clinical Teaching Award, the Dean’s Distinguished Service Award, multiple teaching awards from students and residents, was named a Distinguished Alumnus of the School of Medicine in 2011 and was named the Texas Family Physician of the Year in 2018. Since 2009, he has helped lead the Family Medicine Accelerated Track, an innovative program designed to increase the number of primary care physicians serving Texas communities.

“Primary care in rural regions like the Panhandle is more important now than ever,” Young said. “Family physicians treat patients of all ages, shapes, sizes, colors, genders and ethnicities. We like to say that we treat people from the womb to the tomb, often treating many generations of the same family at the same time, so we develop some truly special relationships with our patients. Medicine is a calling, and it’s a blessing to be able to practice and teach it right here at home, where the need is great and so are the people. I hope I have shown my students and residents just how rewarding it can be.”

Beyond TTUHSC, Young has influenced physician workforce development through leadership in organized medicine and legislative advocacy. Working through the Texas Medical Association and Texas Academy of Family Physicians, he helped develop recommendations that were incorporated into state legislation, contributing to an approximately 45% increase in graduate medical education funding. He also helped develop model legislation that improved licensure pathways for international medical graduates, as well as proposals that formed the basis for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s Graduate Medical Education Expansion Grant Program.

“Throughout his career, Young has exemplified the values of TTUHSC through exceptional clinical care, educational excellence, visionary leadership, dedicated service and unwavering integrity,” said Darrin D’Agostino, D.O. “His sustained record of achievement in patient care, medical education, organized medicine, public policy, scholarship and institutional leadership makes him exceptionally deserving of the distinction of being named a Grover E. Murray Professor.”

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

• Volker Neugebauer, M.D., Ph.D., 2024
• Billy U. Philips, Ph.D., 2023
• Thomas Abbruscato, Ph.D., 2023
• Sherry Sancibrian, 2022
• Thomas Hale, Ph.D., RPh, 2022
• Steven Berk, M.D., 2020
• Michael Evans, Ph.D., RN, 2019
• Vadivel Ganapathy, Ph.D., 2017
• Surendra Varma, M.D., 2016
• Sharon Decker, Ph.D., RN, 2016
• Cynthia L. Raehl, Pharm.D., 2016
• Afzal Siddiqui, Ph.D., 2013
• Quentin Smith, Ph.D., 2009
• Neil A. Kurtzman, M.D., 2004
• John M. Orem, Ph.D., 2002
• Abraham Verghese, M.D., 2001
• Douglas M. Stocco, Ph.D., 1997
• Gabor B. Racz, M.D., 1996