Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

, often referred to as Texas Tech or TTU, is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

, research university located in

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

. Established on February 10, 1923, and originally known as

Texas Technological College Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five-i ...

, it is the leading institution of the

Texas Tech University System The Texas Tech University System is a Public university, public State university system, university system in Texas with five member universities. Headquartered in Lubbock, Texas, the Texas Tech University System is a $3 billion enterprise focus ...

and has the sixth largest student body in the state of Texas. It is the only school in Texas to house an undergraduate institution,

law school A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

, and

medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...

at the same location. Initial enrollment in 1925 was 910 students; as of 2009, the university has 30,049 students from more than 110 countries, all 50 U.S. states and the

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. Since its first graduating class in 1927 of 26 students, Texas Tech has awarded more than 221,000 degrees, including 45,000 graduate and professional degrees to its alumni. The Texas Tech Alumni Association, with over 27,000 members, operates more than 120 chapters in cities throughout the United States and the world. Throughout Texas Tech's history, alumni have played prominent roles in many different fields. Among the university's Distinguished Alumni is

Demetrio B. Lakas Demetrio Basilio Lakas Bahas (August 29, 1925 November 2, 1999) was the 27th President of Panama from December 19, 1969 to October 11, 1978. Early life and education The son of Greek immigrants, Lakas was born in Colón. Following his education ...

, President of the

Republic of Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

from 1969 to 1978. Three United States Governors,

Daniel I. J. Thornton Daniel Isaac J. Thornton (January 31, 1911 – January 18, 1976) was an American Republican politician who served as the 33rd governor of the state of Colorado from 1951 to 1955. Biography Daniel Isaac J. Thornton was born in Hall County, Tex ...

, Governor of Colorado from 1951 to 1955,

John Burroughs John Burroughs (April 3, 1837 – March 29, 1921) was an American naturalist and nature essayist, active in the conservation movement in the United States. The first of his essay collections was ''Wake-Robin'' in 1871. In the words of his bi ...

, Governor of New Mexico from 1959 to 1961, and Preston Smith, Governor of Texas from 1968 to 1972, are graduates of the university. Five astronauts, including

Rick Husband Richard Douglas Husband (July 12, 1957 – February 1, 2003) was an American astronaut and fighter pilot. He traveled into space twice: as pilot of STS-96 and commander of STS-107. Husband and the rest of the crew of STS-107 were killed whe ...

, the final commander of Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' and recipient of the

Congressional Space Medal of Honor The Congressional Space Medal of Honor was authorized by the United States Congress in 1969 to recognize "any astronaut who in the performance of his or her duties has distinguished himself or herself by exceptionally meritorious efforts and co ...

U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionary ...

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

and

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

recipient, George H. O'Brien Jr., is a distinguished alumnus. Richard E. Cavazos is a Medal of Honor and Distinguished Service Cross recipient and the first Hispanic and Mexican American to advance to the rank of four-star general in the U.S. Army. The school's influence on the business world is seen in such people as

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

Chairman and CEO

Edward Whitacre Jr. Edward Earl Whitacre Jr. (born November 4, 1941) is the former chairman and CEO of General Motors. He is also a former chairman of the board and chief executive officer of AT&T, previously Southwestern Bell Corporation (SBC). He served as natio ...

, Finisar CEO Jerry S. Rawls,

Belo Corporation Belo Corporation (; formerly A. H. Belo Corporation) was a Dallas, Texas-based media company that owned 20 commercial broadcasting television stations and three regional 24-hour news cycle, 24-hour United States cable news, cable news televisio ...

CEO Dunia A. Shive, and

ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...

board member Angela Braly, ranked by ''

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fate * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (19 ...

'' magazine as the most powerful woman in business. Others among the university's alumni are folk rocker

John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American Country music, country and Folk music, folk singer, songwriter, and actor. He was one of the most popular acoustic m ...

, country singer

Pat Green Patrick Craven Green (born April 5, 1972) is an American country artist. Active since 1995, he has recorded a total of seven studio albums, including three for Republic Records and two for BNA Records, BNA. Fifteen of his singles have charted on ...

, and actor

George Eads George Coleman Eads III (born March 1, 1967) is an American actor, known for his role as Nick Stokes on the CBS police drama '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation''. He later starred as Jack Dalton on the CBS action-adventure series ''MacGyver'' fo ...

John Hinckley Jr. John Warnock Hinckley Jr. (born May 29, 1955) is an American man who attempted to assassinate U.S. president Ronald Reagan as he left the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., on March 30, 1981, two months after Reagan's first inauguration. Using ...

, who attempted to assassinate U.S.

President Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party and became an important figure in ...

in 1981, attended the university sporadically from 1973 to 1980.

Alumni

* "''—''" indicates that class year is unknown. *''To sort these tables by alumni or class year, click on the icon next to the column title.''

Arts and literature

Business

Education

Entertainment

Government, law, and public policy

Journalism and media

Military

Music

Science, technology and medicine

Honorary

Sports

Texas Tech University alumni have also made contributions to field of sports. Former Red Raiders have gone on to compete in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL),

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB), National Basketball League (NBA),

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL),

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

, and

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

(WNBA). Approximately 94 alumni have been selected to the MLB draft, 19 alumni have been selected in the NBA draft, 149 alumni have been selected in the NFL draft, and 9 alumni have been selected in the WNBA draft. Texas Tech alumni have also gone on to coach collegiate and professional teams.

Notes

References

{{Texas Tech University, show=yes *

Alumni Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

Texas Tech University alumni Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...