Robert Cox, a professor and associate chair within Texas Tech University's Department of Natural Resources Management, has been appointed Interim Associate Dean for Academic & Student Programs for the university's College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, officials announced today (Sept. 14). He will step into his new role on Oct. 1.

“Dr. Cox's exemplary teaching and research record and his student engagement and mentoring experience will be a great fit for the Associate Dean position,” said CASNR Interim Dean Cindy Akers. “Robert has been serving as an orientation advisor since 2016, and he understands the importance of what we do here in the SSC [Student Success Center] and will be able to make an immediate impact.”

Cox's research broadly focuses on community and restoration ecology, distribution and conservation of rare and endemic plant species, and ecology of invasive species. His efforts include large-scale restoration experiments with practical applications. He received the Texas Tech President's Excellence in Teaching Professorship (2021, 2018), and CASNR's Teaching Award (2019). He was named a member of the university's elite Teaching Academy (2016), which was established in 1997 to recognize excellence in teaching and to promote the university's teaching mission.

In addition, Cox received the Texas Tech Alumni Association New Faculty Award (2013), and the Range Science Education Council's Early Career Undergraduate Teaching Award (2014). He has taught courses in range plant ecology; restoration ecology; range, forest, wetland plants, and plant identification; and range improvements. Since 2016, Cox has been an orientation speaker for the college, speaking to prospective students about the college and university. 

Prior joining the Texas Tech faculty in 2008, Cox was a post-doctoral ecologist with the Grassland, Shrubland and Desert Ecosystem Research Program at the USDA's Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station in Boise, Idaho. A native of Utah, he received his bachelor's degree in conservation biology and his master's degree in botany from Brigham Young University. His doctorate in ecology and conservation biology is from the University of California-Riverside. He's a member of The Ecological Society of America, The Society for Ecological Restoration, and The Society for Range Management.

CONTACT: Cindy Akers, Interim Dean, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2808 or cindy.akers@ttu.edu

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