Job Description

The Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications (ALEC) and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University invite applications for a full-time, 9-month Assistant Professor faculty position (tenure-track) with academic, scholarly, and faculty accomplishments in Agricultural and Rural Community Leadership. The anticipated start date for this opportunity is January 1, 2028.

The successful candidate will contribute to the continued growth of the ALEC academic programs, specifically the Agricultural Leadership (ALED) degree and the M.S. and Ph.D. degree programs in Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications. The position carries a Division of Effort of 50% research, 40% teaching, and 10% service. The individual in this position is expected to obtain federal, state, industrial, and/or foundation funding to support and sustain a vigorous research program.

Texas is simultaneously one of the most agriculturally productive and most unevenly developed states in the nation. It leads the country in cattle, cotton, hay, sheep, wool, goats, mohair, and horse production and ranks among the top ten producers for more than 40 major commodities. Yet the communities that anchor this agricultural economy face compounding pressures: a rural population of more than three million people who routinely struggle to access healthcare, broadband, education, and economic opportunity that urban counterparts take for granted. At least 74 Texas counties lack a hospital, 20 or more rural hospitals have closed since 2010, and nearly one million rural Texans lack adequate broadband connectivity, costing the state more than $5 billion in lost economic potential annually.

This position is designed to advance scholarship at the critical intersection of agriculture and rural community leadership development, recognizing that the strength of Texas’s commodity sectors and the vitality of its rural communities are deeply interdependent. Without capable local leaders navigating disruption, small towns and farm-dependent counties face decline; without thriving rural communities, the infrastructure, labor, and social capital that sustains commodity agriculture erodes.

The successful candidate will build a nationally recognized, externally funded research program examining how leaders of Texas’s agricultural commodity industries and rural communities are developed, prepared, and empowered to meet the challenges of 2030 and beyond.

Research (50%)

The successful candidate will:

• 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.

Teaching (40%)

The successful candidate will:

• 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. Additional coursework could be taught in courses associated with the International Agriculture minor.
• 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.

Service (10%)

The successful candidate will:

• 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.

The Department

The Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications is a nationally recognized leader in the social sciences of agriculture and life sciences, housed in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University. ALEC is home to approximately 1,300 undergraduate students, 300 graduate students, and more than 30 faculty scholars. ALEC faculty conduct impactful, interdisciplinary research that addresses critical issues pertaining to food, agriculture, natural resources, youth development, and human health, working where agriculture and the life sciences meet to strengthen both urban and rural communities in Texas, the nation, and worldwide.

ALEC offers undergraduate degrees in Agricultural Leadership and Development (ALED) and Agricultural Education (AGED), master’s and doctoral programs in Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications, and graduate certificates in Leadership Education Theory and Practice, Extension Education, International Agriculture, and Agriculture eLearning Development. A dedicated stream of ALEC research aims to improve the health, wellbeing, and livelihood of people living in rural areas, supporting initiatives, education, and programming to reinvigorate small towns, identify economic opportunities, and empower local citizens to lead and navigate change.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• 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

Preferred qualifications:

• 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

Application Instructions

Applicants must submit:

1. A cover letter summarizing interest in and qualifications for the position in .pdf format;
2. A current Curriculum Vitae that includes research activity, teaching experience, and service to the profession in .pdf format;
3. A personal statement that includes a guiding philosophy and plans for research, teaching, and service. Limit your statement to 3 pages, Times New Roman, 12 pt font, in .pdf format; and
4. Name and contact information for three professional references. 

Applications must be submitted online at: apply.interfolio.com/193595

The position will be open until filled. The process of reviewing applications will begin 30 days after the position opens.

If you have questions about the position, contact Dr. Summer Odom (summer.feltonodom@ag.tamu.edu).

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Equal Opportunity/Veterans/Disability Employer.