Position Description

Contributes to the university’s mission through teaching, research and service, some variation by academic unit. The Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at Texas Tech University is seeking to fill a nine-month tenure track assistant professor position in Agricultural and Applied Economics. The start date is September 1, 2024.

About the University

Established in 1923, Texas Tech University is a Carnegie R1 (very high research activity) Doctoral/Research-Extensive, Hispanic Serving, and state-assisted institution. Located on a beautiful 1,850-acre campus in Lubbock, a city in West Texas with a growing metropolitan-area population of over 300,000, the university enrolls over 40,000 students with 33,000 undergraduate and 7,000 graduate students. As the primary research institution in the western two-thirds of the state, Texas Tech University is home to 10 colleges, the Schools of Law and Veterinary Medicine, and the Graduate School. The flagship of the Texas Tech University System, Texas Tech is dedicated to student success by preparing learners to be ethical leaders for a diverse and globally competitive workforce. It is committed to enhancing the cultural and economic development of the state, nation, and world.
About Lubbock:Referred to as the “Hub City” because it serves as the educational, cultural, economic, and health care hub of the South Plains region, Lubbock boasts a diverse population and a strong connection to community, history, and land. With a mild climate, highly rated public schools, and a low cost of living, Lubbock is a family-friendly community that is ranked as one of the best places to live in Texas. Lubbock is home to a celebrated and ever-evolving music scene, a vibrant arts community, and is within driving distance of Dallas, Austin, Santa Fe, and other major metropolitan cities. Lubbock’s Convention & Visitors Bureau provides a comprehensive overview of the Lubbock community and its resources, programs, events, and histories.

About the College

The Davis College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources is comprised of seven academic departments. The College promotes and supports multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and inter-institutional research programs. Cooperative relationships exist between the College and Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension and USDA-ARS.

About the Department/School/Area

The Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics currently has 18 tenured/tenure-track faculty members, 1 professor of practice, 1 adjunct faculty, 487 undergraduate students, and 74 graduate students. The Department offers B.S. degrees in Agribusiness and Agricultural and Applied Economics as well as a concentration in International Agribusiness with programs in Latin America, Asia, and Europe; M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Agricultural and Applied Economics, and a Master of Agribusiness. Additional departmental information can be found on the departmental website at http://www.aaec.ttu.edu.

About the Department and/or College

The Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics currently has 18 tenured/tenure-track faculty members, 1 professor of practice, 1 adjunct faculty, 485 undergraduate students, and 70 graduate students. The Department offers B.S. degrees in Agribusiness and Agricultural and Applied Economics as well as a concentration in International Agribusiness with programs in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe, M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Agricultural and Applied Economics, and a Master of Agribusiness. Additional departmental information can be found on the departmental website at http://www.aaec.ttu.edu. Center Ph.D. students will be based in the interdisciplinary LPMD program), based in the university Graduate School (https://www.depts.ttu.edu/gradschool/Programs/INDS/LPMD.php.

The Davis College includes the departments of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Agricultural Education and Communications, Animal and Food Sciences, Landscape Architecture, Natural Resources Management, Plant and Soil Science, and Veterinary Sciences, along with eight research centers and institutes including the Center for AgriScience Communications, Davis College Water Center, Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute, Institute for Genomics of Crop Abiotic Stress Tolerance, International Center for Agricultural Competitiveness, International Center for Food Industry Excellence, Texas Cooperative Research Unit, and the Thornton Agricultural Finance Institute. For the current academic year, the College has 2,747 undergraduate students and 519 graduate students. Davis College employs 111 tenure-track faculty, 30 non-tenure track faculty, and 169 support staff. Faculty in Davis College generated approximately $16 million in extramural funding to support research in 2022-2023, teaching, and outreach and engagement missions. Cooperative relationships exist between the College and Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension and USDA-ARS.


Major/Essential Functions

The West Texas regional economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, energy, and healthcare that is created by the interaction of rural and secondary (under 500,000 residents) urban centers. The region is at an important crossroads as reduced groundwater availability is leading to a transition from irrigated row-crop agriculture to integrated rainfed systems. Focus on high-value agriculture, agro- and eco-tourism, and alternative energy systems are largely viewed as pathways to maintaining/increasing economic output and standards of living in the rural sector. Urban centers are adjusting to a future with less dependence on agriculture and a more diverse citizenry. Regional sustainability is dependent on rural healthcare, education, and economic opportunities, including sustainable agricultural production, and its coupling with adjacent urban centers. The successful candidate will coordinate research and outreach activities across departments within Davis College, CURES, and other programs and initiatives at Texas Tech University to address these multidisciplinary research areas. The person filling this position is expected to engage in research and outreach related to One Health and collaborate with researchers across the university. Research funding from federal sources such as NIH, NSF, and USDA is a priority. Duties include teaching and advising undergraduate and graduate students, attracting external funding, and publishing research results in reputed national and international peer-reviewed journals. Service to the department, Center, college, university, and community is expected.

OrganizationTexas Tech University
Required Qualifications

Academic degree as defined by the academic unit and as appropriate for the position held. Demonstrated record of effectiveness as a teacher, a record of peer reviewed publication and/or peer-reviewed creative activity which has contributed to the discipline or field of study, to the candidate’s intellectual and artistic development, and to the quality of the academic enterprise; a record of professional service appropriate to the discipline; promise of growth in teaching and research or artistic and creative activity.

Faculty Qualifications

A Ph.D. in Agricultural and Applied Economics, Agribusiness, Economics, Business Administration, or a closely related field.
Excellent training in quantitative methods, microeconomics as well as topics related to agribusiness (international trade, industrial organization, supply chain and/or strategic management, managerial economics, marketing, finance, risk management, information management).
Excellent oral and written communication skills.
Strong record of scholarship supported by extramural funding and proven capacity or clear potential to bring externally sponsored research to Texas Tech University.

Preferred Qualifications

Areas of research include Food and Agricultural Marketing, Consumer Behavior, and Applied Econometrics.
Knowledge of related topics in regional science, local food systems, land use, agribusiness, and product development are encouraged.
Possess strong empirical skills to analyze questions for publication in peer-reviewed economics, applied economics, and agricultural economics journals.
The ability to teach econometric methods in our undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs is required, as well as other courses in the candidate’s field of interest.
A candidate willing to support research and training on statistical methods for graduate students across the College is encouraged.