Tenure-Track: Assistant Professor in Agriculture and Rural Community Leadership

Texas A&M University•College Station, TX

11d•Onsite

About The Position

The Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications (ALEC) and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University are seeking a full-time, 9-month Assistant Professor for a tenure-track position. This role focuses on agricultural and rural community leadership, with an anticipated start date of January 1, 2028. The successful candidate will enhance the ALEC academic programs, including the Agricultural Leadership (ALED) degree and M.S./Ph.D. programs in Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications. The position involves 50% research, 40% teaching, and 10% service, with an expectation to secure external funding for a robust research program. The role is designed to advance scholarship at the intersection of agriculture and rural community leadership development, addressing the unique challenges and opportunities in Texas. The successful candidate will build a nationally recognized, externally funded research program focused on developing leaders for Texas's agricultural commodity industries and rural communities to meet future challenges.

Requirements

An earned doctorate (Ph.D.) in Agricultural Leadership, Leadership Studies, Agricultural Education, Agricultural and Extension Education, Rural Sociology, Community Development, Psychology, Organizational Leadership, Rural Studies, Human Geography, Anthropology, or a closely related social science discipline from an accredited institution; the degree must be completed by the appointment start date.
Demonstrated research focus or scholarly interest in leadership development within agricultural or rural community contexts.
Evidence of potential to develop a productive, externally funded research program.
Demonstrated potential or record of peer-reviewed publication in refereed journals.
Evidence of effective teaching or teaching potential at the undergraduate and/or graduate level.
Commitment to mentoring graduate and undergraduate students.
Evidence of effective oral and written communication skills.
A range of methodological expertise essential to the success of a scholar, including statistical analysis (specifically the use of R) required at both ranks.

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated ability or potential to develop curriculum, teach, and mentor undergraduate and graduate students.
Professional or applied experience in agricultural production, commodity marketing, cooperative management, rural community development, or related fields.
An established or emerging research program specifically addressing leadership development for Texas or regional agricultural commodity industries and/or rural communities.
Experience working directly with agricultural commodity organizations, producer groups, farm bureaus, rural cooperatives, or rural community organizations.
Evidence of strong communication, perspective-taking, and collegiality aligned with effective service at the departmental, campus, and professional levels.
Experiences with community-based participatory research, qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research designs relevant to leadership and rural community social science inquiry.
Demonstrated commitment to agricultural and rural leadership contexts, with attention to historically underrepresented producers and beginning farmers and ranchers.
Knowledge of emerging challenges shaping rural Texas, including broadband equity, rural health access, water systems, infrastructure, and rural workforce development.
Familiarity with leadership succession and intergenerational transfer in both farm/ranch operations and rural community governance.
A record of, or demonstrated potential for, securing extramural funding from USDA (NIFA, AFRI, Rural Development), state agencies, or commodity and community foundation sources.

Responsibilities

Develop and lead a vigorous, externally funded research program at the intersection of agriculture and rural community leadership development, with specific relevance to Texas’s agricultural commodity sectors and rural communities.
Investigate leadership formation, capacity building, and organizational effectiveness within Texas agricultural commodity industries, such as beef cattle, cotton, corn, sorghum, poultry, dairy, sheep, goat, and specialty crop sectors.
Pursue research on rural community leadership challenges facing Texas, such as community capacity building in farm-dependent counties; youth outmigration and succession of rural leadership; civic leadership development in small towns; rural economic diversification and entrepreneurship; and the leadership dimensions of rural health, broadband access, water systems, and infrastructure.
Examine the intersections between commodity industry leadership and rural community wellbeing, including the roles of commodity organizations, producer cooperatives, and agricultural associations in sustaining rural communities.
Pursue federal, state, industry, and foundation funding to sustain a productive research enterprise, including USDA NIFA, USDA AFRI, USDA Rural Development, Texas Department of Agriculture, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, commodity board partnerships, and private foundations.
Produce peer-reviewed scholarship advancing knowledge at the intersection of leadership theory, rural community development, and agricultural systems.
Engage directly with commodity leaders, producer organizations, rural community stakeholders, and municipal/county officials to ensure research relevance and promote knowledge transfer.
Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams across ALEC, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, and partner institutions.
Mentor and advise M.S. and Ph.D. students in the ALEC graduate programs.
Teach undergraduate courses in the Agricultural Leadership and Development (ALED) degree program, with particular attention to courses in community leadership, organizational development, and civic engagement, consistent with the candidate’s areas of expertise.
Develop and teach graduate-level courses in agricultural and rural community leadership for the M.S. and Ph.D. programs in ALEC.
Advise and mentor undergraduate students, with particular attention to students enrolled in the ALEC Leadership Honors Program.
Contribute curriculum development expertise to evolve academic offerings responsive to the leadership needs of Texas agricultural commodity industries and rural communities.
Serve on departmental, college, and university committees as appropriate.
Engage professionally through national organizations such as the American Association for Agricultural Education (AAAE), the Rural Sociological Society, or comparable entities.
Participate in commodity organization advisory boards, industry task forces, rural community leadership programs, and producer leadership initiatives as opportunities arise.
Contribute to community outreach through Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, with possible engagement with the Texas Rural Leadership Program or similar statewide rural leadership initiatives.