Kayla Robinson, a current member of Texas Tech's College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources Advisory Board and a 2004 graduate of the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, was recently promoted to Chief Operating Officer with AgTexas Farm Credit Services. She stepped into her new post this month.

Established in 1934, AgTexas Farm Credit Services is a rural lending cooperative that provides competitively priced and reliable credit to Texas farmers, ranchers, and rural property owners.

Robinson began her career with AgTexas Farm Credit in 2003 as an intern while attending Texas Tech, and has since held positions as a credit officer, regional vice president of credit, and senior vice president of human resources.

She received her bachelor's degree from Tech's Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics (2004), and Master of Business Administration from Texas Tech (2015). She is an active participant within the university community, making classroom presentations in addition to serving on CASNR's Advisory Board, starting in 2018.

In addition, she is a member of CASNR's Matador Institute of Leadership Engagement Program Advisory Committee. MILE is a three-semester leadership and professional development program in CASNR that exposes students to the key issues affecting local, state, and national agriculture while expanding their personal and professional skills.

Last year MILE received support from AgTexas Farm Credit Services, who will sponsor the program's South Plains and Panhandle agriculture tours. These regional tours are part of the MILE Program's travel experiences that expose student members to each regions' industry sectors and community leadership. AgTexas will contribute $90,000 over five years toward the MILE Program.

CONTACT: Phillip Johnson, chair and director of the Thornton Agricultural Finance Institute, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Texas Tech University at (806) 834-0474 or phil.johnson@ttu.edu

0111NM21