Rodney Young named Grover E. Murray Professor, Texas Tech’s highest faculty honor

TAFP member and longtime family medicine leader Rodney Young, MD, has received the highest faculty honor bestowed by the Texas Tech University System.

The TTU System Board of Regents on August 13 approved Young’s appointment as a Grover E. Murray Professor at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. The professorship, named for the eighth president of Texas Tech University, recognizes faculty members who have achieved national and international distinction through outstanding research, scholarship, and creative achievement.

Young, professor and regional chair of the TTUHSC Department of Family and Community Medicine in Amarillo, said the recognition came as a surprise, and that his years of involvement in organized medicine played an important role in making it possible.

“My work through TMA and TAFP, which has been far more joy than work, is no doubt a major reason why this honor has come my way,” Young said. “Just as it is at TTUHSC, my colleagues at TMA and TAFP have made me a much better physician and educator, and I’m enormously grateful to have gathered so many fantastic friends and mentors along the way.”

Young joined the TTUHSC School of Medicine as an assistant professor in 2000 and has served as regional chair of Family and Community Medicine in Amarillo since 2003. A graduate of both the TTUHSC School of Medicine and its family medicine residency program, he has devoted more than 25 years to patient care, medical education, scholarship, and service.

TTUHSC President Lori Rice-Spearman, PhD, described Young as an exceptional ambassador for the institution and its mission.

“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,” Rice-Spearman said. “His impact extends far beyond the Panhandle, and he has been an inspiration to so many.”

That impact has long extended into organized medicine. Young has intentionally made involvement in TAFP and the Texas Medical Association part of his professional life, arguing that physicians can make time to participate if they want their firsthand experiences to help shape health policy.

When TAFP profiled Young after naming him the 2018 Texas Family Physician of the Year, he talked about organized medicine as something physicians need to make time for — and show up for.

“Everybody’s busy, no one has time to get involved,” Young said at the time. “You just literally have to prioritize it, decide it’s important and that you’re going to do it.” He encouraged physicians to “show up” and bring their own experiences to the discussion, saying those perspectives can help colleagues refine ideas and develop more effective solutions.

Young’s own advocacy has focused heavily on strengthening the primary care workforce, expanding graduate medical education and improving access to care. Through his work with TAFP and TMA, he helped develop recommendations later incorporated into state legislation that contributed to an approximately 45% increase in graduate medical education funding. He also helped develop model legislation improving licensure pathways for international medical graduates and proposals that formed the basis of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s Graduate Medical Education Expansion Grant Program.

He has also held leadership positions within TAFP, TMA, and the American Medical Association and was elected to serve on the TMA Board of Trustees. He previously chaired TMA’s Councils on Medical Education and Socioeconomics.

Young’s academic accomplishments include more than 30 peer-reviewed publications and invited presentations before regional, national, and international audiences. At TTUHSC, he has received the Dean’s Clinical Teaching Award, the Dean’s Distinguished Service Award, and multiple teaching awards from students and residents. The School of Medicine named him a Distinguished Alumnus in 2011. 

For Young, however, the new honor remains closely tied to the work and relationships that have defined his career.

“At TTUHSC, I found a career that is purpose-built for service to our patients, our students, our colleagues, and our West Texas communities,” he said. “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.”