Robert William Lawless (February 13, 1937 – August 10, 2024) was an American academic and executive.
Lawless also served as executive vice president and chief operations officer of Southwest Airlines from 1985 to 1989,[2] after serving in various positions with the airline, including vice president for finance and chief financial officer.
[3][4] Lawless succeeded Robert H. Donaldson, who announced his intention to resign at the end of the 1995-1996 year, after an often contentious 6-year tenure at TU, during which he often clashed with both students and faculty,[a] according to a news article.
[4] The same article noted that Lawless angered gay and lesbian students at Texas Tech in 1993 by a letter he wrote, calling their lifestyles "deviant...something that I can never condone, and hold in great contempt.
Tech also had 24,000 students when he moved from Lubbock, compared to TU's 4,386.