Written by Dailey Fuller

Texas Tech University System officials announced today (June 13) the receipt of an anonymous $1.2 million gift to the Texas Tech Department of Economics to create the Institute for the Teaching and Study of Free Market Economics.

The gift, which is part of the system’s billion-dollar Vision & Tradition campaign, provides funds for the department to hire three new faculty members including one full professor and two junior faculty.

“Securing the resources our faculty needs to be competitive is a priority of our campaign,” said Texas Tech University System Chancellor Kent Hance. “We appreciate this gift and the opportunities it creates for our Department of Economics to expand its understanding of free markets.”

The institute is expected to supplement the department’s course offerings, support research and encourage interdisciplinary dialogue on the behavior of free markets and the effects of marketplace intervention.

“This gift will make an immediate impact in the College of Arts and Sciences,” said Lawrence Schovanec, dean of the college. “Faculty and student involvement in this institute will enhance scholarship in free market economics and will increase undergraduate and graduate student exposure to free market thinking.”

The department will begin the recruitment process for the new positions immediately.

“Today, we're starting a nationwide search to recruit some of the best minds in free market economics to Texas Tech University,” said Klaus Becker, chairman of the Department of Economics. “I look forward to seeing how the Institute for the Teaching and Study of Free Market Economics adds to our department’s knowledge of how markets work.”

System officials announced Vision & Tradition: The Campaign for Texas Tech on Sept. 17, 2010. As of May 31, the campaign has raised more than $774 million, including today’s announced gift, to support student scholarships, faculty endowments, research efforts and expanded facilities at all three system institutions, Texas Tech University, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and Angelo State University.