Montford named first Chancellor
1996 Texas Tech's Board of Regents opted for a new administrative structure following the February departure of President Robert Lawless. What the board decided was to name a chancellor, who in turn would name separate presidents of Tech and the Health Sciences Center.
The person the board zeroed in on as the first chancellor in school history was John Montford, who had spent the past 14 years as an influential state senator.
Among Montford's first moves were to name Donald Haragan as Tech's president and former state health commissioner Dr. David R. Smith to lead the Health Sciences Center.
He also immediately kicked off a vigorous fund-raising drive for the school's new on-campus basketball facility that would come to be known as the United Spirit Arena. One of his most ambitious projects was the Horizon Campaign, launched in February 1998, which was aimed at raising $300 million over a five-year span, a goal that was reached in less than a year.
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