Robert Lloyd Duncan (born August 5, 1953) is an American attorney and politician who served as the fourth chancellor of the

Texas Tech University System The Texas Tech University System is a state university system in Texas consisting of five universities in the state of Texas, of which three are general-academic universities, Texas Tech University, Angelo State University and Midwestern State U ...

, serving from 2014 to 2018. A

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, he previously served as a member of both houses of the

Texas State Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful ...

. Duncan served in the

Texas State Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per con ...

from the 28th district, centered about Lubbock, from 1996, when he won a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

, until his resignation in July 2014, when he was named chancellor of the Texas Tech system. He previously served in the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abo ...

from District 84 from his election in 1992 until 1996. On May 19, 2014, the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents named Duncan the sole finalist to succeed former

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

Kent Hance Kent Ronald Hance (born November 14, 1942) is an American politician and lawyer who is the former Chancellor of the Texas Tech University System. In his role, he oversaw Texas Tech University, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and Ang ...

as the system chancellor.

Early life and education

Duncan is the only son of the five children of Frank L. Duncan, a district conservationist for the

U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...

in Vernon, and the former Robena Formby. Duncan holds bachelor's and law degrees from

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sy ...

Career

Duncan practices law and is a partner at the Lubbock firm of Crenshaw Dupree & Milam, L.L.P. Duncan, along with colleagues Bob Deuell of Greenville, John Carona of

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, Kevin Eltife of

Tyler Tyler may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tyler (name), an English name; with lists of people with the surname or given name * Tyler, the Creator (born 1991), American rap artist and producer * John Tyler, 10th president of the United ...

, and

Kel Seliger Kelton Gray Seliger, known as Kel Seliger (born June 16, 1953), is a Republican member of the Texas State Senate for District 31, which stretches from the Panhandle south to the Permian Basin. He has announced that he will not be running for re ...

Amarillo Amarillo ( ; Spanish for " yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall Cou ...

, is considered one of the most

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

of the nineteen (as of 2013) Texas Senate Republicans, according to an analysis by Mark P. Jones of the Political Science Department at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universities ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

. Jones also found that these Republicans saw passage of 90 percent of the bills for which they had voted. In the 2014 primaries, Carona was narrowly defeated, and Deuell narrowly lost a runoff election with fellow Republican Bob Hall.

Personal life

Duncan is married to the former Terri Patterson. He has two children from his first marriage to the former Lynne Stebbins, Lindsey and Matthew Duncan.

Election history

Senate election history of Duncan.Uncontested primary elections are not shown.

Most recent election

2004

Previous elections

2002

1998

1996

References

External links

Texas Tech profileProject Vote Smart - Senator Robert L. Duncan (TX)
profile *''Follow the Money'' - Robert L. Duncan
2006200420021998
campaign contributions {{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Robert L. 1953 births Chancellors of the Texas Tech University System Living people People from Vernon, Texas People from Lubbock, Texas Texas Tech University alumni Texas Tech University School of Law alumni Texas lawyers Republican Party members of the Texas House of Representatives Republican Party Texas state senators Presidents pro tempore of the Texas Senate 21st-century American politicians