LaTanya J. Love, MD
Interim President, UTHealth Houston
LaTanya J. Love, MD, became interim president of UTHealth Houston on March 1, 2025. In this role, she is working to further the university’s strategic plan and champion UTHealth Houston’s students, trainees, faculty, and staff. Love is the Alkek-Williams Distinguished Chair at the university, and she will continue to serve as dean of education at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston.
With an emphasis on health care education and student well-being, Love has been integral to the advancement of UTHealth Houston’s mission for more than two decades.
Inspired by stories of her late grandfather — a respected physician in Beaumont — Love, along with her siblings, followed in his footsteps to pursue careers in medicine. After earning her medical degree from The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Love completed her combined residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at McGovern Medical School in 2004, followed by a chief residency in 2005. She remains double board certified in both internal medicine and pediatrics. Most recently, she served as Executive Vice President of Student and University Affairs for UTHealth Houston.
Her first leadership position was as medical director of student health services, where she integrated student health and counseling to create a comprehensive medical home for students. This experience ignited her passion for exploring student well-being, inspiring her to develop a schoolwide research project on the range of pressures and factors impacting well-being. The findings informed the development of a comprehensive wellness program encompassing financial wellness, academic success, career planning, professionalism, and interpersonal development for students.
She spearheaded the creation of the McGovern Societies mentorship program, one of the first of its kind to integrate wellness and resilience into medical education. Her expertise in this area has been recognized nationally, with invitations to speak at American Medical Association (AMA) and Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) meetings, as well as contributing a book chapter on the subject.
Love has held national leadership positions, including serving as the Southern region representative for the AAMC Group on Student Affairs’ National Committee on Admissions. She played a key role in McGovern Medical School becoming an early adopter of holistic review in graduate medical education residency applications. She also served as Faculty Accreditation Lead for the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) and has participated in LCME accreditation survey teams across the country.
Love’s emphasis on education extends beyond students in an academic setting. She is equally focused on educating patients, their families, and the public about ways to protect and improve their own health. She previously was a regular guest on KHOU Channel 11’s “House Calls” segment, providing trusted health information to the station’s viewers each week. She served as medical director of UTHealth Houston’s Mobile Clinic in partnership with the School of Public Health’s Brownsville campus. In this role, she helped pioneer the use of telemedicine in elementary schools in the Rio Grande Valley, connecting students with physicians in Houston long before telemedicine became widely adopted. She also worked with student leaders to develop a student-driven initiative addressing health concerns in Houston’s underserved communities. This initiative continues today, bringing together students from UTHealth Houston schools and culminating in an annual community health fair at the UT Physicians Multispecialty – Jensen clinic.
Understanding the importance of leadership development, she established a one-year fellowship program designed to cultivate future health care leaders by enhancing self-awareness, leadership confidence, and the ability to influence systems effectively.
A recipient of the UTHealth Houston President’s Excellence Award and a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha national medical honor society, Love’s contributions to medical education, leadership, and student well-being continue to shape the future of health care.
She met her husband, Ray, the original Dr. Love, while they were both residents at UTHealth Houston. They are proud parents of Andrew and Amaya.
