Amarillo Community
Community Location
Amarillo is in the middle of the West Texas Panhandle, bordered by New Mexico and Oklahoma, and was first settled in 1887. The name Amarillo, the Spanish word for “yellow,” was taken from the yellow color of the sub-soil in the channel of the main creek. In the early days, it is reported that most homes in Amarillo were painted yellow to commemorate the name of the town.
Amarillo and the surrounding metro area has a population of approximately 245,000. The Amarillo Chamber of Commerce states, “Amarillo has the world's largest natural gas development and provides pipelines to many large cities and thousands of towns connecting through to the Atlantic seaboard. The world's second largest gas field is also being developed in this area. Natural gas and petroleum discoveries have given rise to a number of the city's major industries which produce carbon black, petro-chemicals and helium. Zinc smelting brought economic advantages when it entered the Amarillo industry picture in 1992.”
TTUHSC
The Texas Tech University School of Medicine was created by the 61st Texas Legislature in May 1969 as a multi-campus institution with Lubbock as the administrative center and with regional campuses at Amarillo, El Paso, and Odessa. In 1979, the charter was expanded to become the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) making room for several more schools to be established within each regional system. Demographic shifts in West Texas populations, as well as socioeconomic and epidemiologic characteristics of its subgroups, create major and specific demands for service.
A regional School of Medicine Amarillo campus was created in 1972 not only because of the area’s geographic, economic and demographic characteristics, but specifically as a vehicle for medical student rotation.
In 1996, the Texas Legislature approved the addition of the School of Pharmacy to the Health Sciences Center with its main campus in Amarillo.
Acting as the cornerstone of TTUHSC’s women’s health research initiatives, the Amarillo program is a collaboration of the School of Medicine, the School of Pharmacy and community entities that include:
- The Don & Sybil Harrington Cancer Center
- Amarillo Veterans Affairs Health Care System
- Amarillo College
- West Texas A&M University
- Northwest Texas Healthcare System
The Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health
Housed in the Wallace Building at 1400 Wallace Blvd., Amarillo, 79106
Staff
Marjorie Jenkins, M.D. Executive Director, 
806-354-5480
Margaret Weis, Ph.D., Co-Director, Research, 806-356-4015 x281
Judith Pepper, Director of Programs, 806-356-4617
Executive Council
Dennis Dove, M.D., TTUHSC, Dept of Surgery
Nathan Goldstein, M.D., NWTHS
Marjorie Jenkins, M.D., TTUHSC, Dept of Ob/Gyn
Richard Jordan, M.D., TTUHSC Office of Regional Dean
Robert Kauffman, M.D., TTUHSC, Dept of Ob/Gyn
Frank Lopez, CEO Northwest Texas Healthcare System
Eric MacLaughlin, Pharm.D., TTUHSC
Mike Meyers, Ph.D., WTAMU
Mubariz Naqvi, M.D., TTUHSC, Dept of Peds
Arthur Nelson, Ph.D., TTUHSC, SOP Dean
Cynthia Raehl, Pharm.D., TTUHSC, SOP
Rusty Robinson, M.D., Harrington Cancer Center
Lois Stickley, Ph.D., TTUHSC, Allied Health
James Stoll, Ph.D., TTUHSC, SOP
Cathy Van Hook, M.D., TTUHSC, Dept of Ob/Gyn
Margaret Weis, Ph.D., TTUHSC SOP
Stephen Wright, M.D., TTUHSC, Internal Med
Board of Trustees
Richard Jordan M.D., Regional Dean SOM
Arthur A. Nelson, Jr., R.Ph., Ph.D., Dean SOP
Frank Lopez, CEO Northwest Texas Healthcare System
Marjorie Jenkins, M.D., TTUHSC, Dept of Ob/Gyn
Margaret Weis, Ph.D., TTUHSC LWBIWH