Growing up in Lubbock, Texas, Lynnlee Harrell could tell when it was time for cotton harvest season. “You could smell it in the air,” she said. “It’s not the most pleasant smell, and you didn’t have to travel far outside the city limits to see cotton bales waiting on the side of the road to be picked up and transported to the gin.”
Today, Lynnlee is the Senior Human Resource Coordinator at the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences, where she supports faculty, researchers, and staff. Though she grew up around farming, her career took a different route, one that is about cultivating talent and helping people grow.
Farming runs in her family. Her relatives have owned farmland for several generations and rent it to farmers who grow cotton, corn, and other crops. While Lynnlee never climbed into a cotton stripper or a combine harvester herself, the environment shaped her childhood. “Lubbock is surrounded by farmland, where it is completely normal to see miles of flat cotton or corn fields,” she said.
The landscape came with a few souvenirs. “I’m pretty sure I still carry a good amount of West Texas dirt in my lungs from all the dust storms I endured growing up,” she joked. “To be serious, though, Lubbockites are generally friendly people, and I think that rubbed off on me.”
Her path to human resources began somewhere very different. Lynnlee studied art history at Texas Tech University and planned to work in museums. She is drawn to Italian Renaissance art, especially the work that came out of Florence, and remembers being “absolutely floored” by the collection at the Galleria dell’Accademia, home to Michelangelo’s David. “Maybe in another universe, I work there, speak fluent Italian, and have a really chic wardrobe,” she said.
In this universe, her career took a different turn. “I really stumbled into Human Resources (HR),” said Lynnlee. “The universe had other plans for me.”
After graduating college, she was hired as an office assistant in Texas Tech’s College of Media and Communication. Her main job was to be a friendly receptionist, but the role also came with HR duties, including student onboarding. “That position was incredibly formative because it taught me the fundamentals of the field,” she said. “It reinforced the importance of accuracy, timeliness, and consistency, all of which are critical for both compliance and building trust with employees.”
She went on to personnel and HR roles both inside and outside higher education before returning to Texas Tech, where she worked with University Student Housing, which included overseeing the department’s corrective action process, one of the most impactful parts of the job. Many people see that work as the negative side of HR. Lynnlee found it changed how she saw the whole profession. “I saw it as an opportunity to build understanding between managers and employees and create a path toward growth and success,” she said. Over the past decade, she has built experience across talent acquisition, compensation and operations, talent development, performance management, and payroll.
When Lynnlee joined the Oden Institute in June 2025, that range of experience has come in handy. Her days might involve answering questions from employees and managers, tracking work authorization expiration dates and processing extensions, onboarding new hires, and coordinating assignment extensions for researchers. “My day-to-day is really a smorgasbord of different responsibilities,” she said. “And trust me, there have been some real gear-switchers sent to the Oden HR inbox since I arrived.” Whatever the questions that arise, she enjoys the puzzle. “It’s about researching the problem, finding the answer, and helping people move forward with confidence.”
Supporting a community of faculty, researchers, and staff means every situation looks a little different. “There is no one-size-fits-all approach to supporting people,” Lynnlee explained. She starts by listening and gathering context before offering guidance. “And if we don’t know the answer, we’ll find it.”
She also believes HR can offer more than paperwork. Lynnlee says HR work is often perceived as “drearily administrative or strictly compliance-driven,” and she tries to bring personality and humanity to it. That means being “a real person who can listen, empathize, and help,” and using humor when it fits to put people at ease. It is the same friendliness she picked up in Lubbock, put into action. “When staff trust that HR cares about both the quality of its work and the people it serves, engagement, morale, and trust naturally follow,” she said.
What surprised her most about the Oden Institute was its relaxed atmosphere, which sits comfortably alongside a serious commitment to the work. “The first time I saw someone wearing Birkenstocks to the office, I knew the job gods were smiling down on me,” she said. “It showed me that people can be comfortable being themselves while still producing exceptional research and results.”
The best part of her job is the response she gets after solving a problem. “‘Thank you’ is a phrase I hear quite often around here, and it can make even the most stressful situations worthwhile,” she said. Helping the people behind the Institute’s research clear obstacles so they can focus on their work is what makes it especially meaningful.
