Robert Cox, an award-winning professor, administrator and scientific researcher within Texas Tech’s Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, has been appointed the unit’s Associate Dean for Academic & Student Programs, officials announced today (May 4). He will step into his new administrative role on May 1.  

“Davis College has been a truly exciting and rewarding place for me to work over the last 14 and ½ years, and I’m grateful to be able to work with so many talented and accomplished students, staff, and faculty,” Cox said. “It’s really an honor to serve in the Dean’s office, and I’m looking forward to an exciting future for the College.” 

During the previous 1.5 years, Cox has served as Interim Associate Dean for Academic & Student Programs, in addition to his role as a professor of habitat restoration ecology and associate chair within Tech’s Department of Natural Resources Management. 

In his new post, Cox serves as a member of the of the Davis College senior management team, routinely coordinating with the Davis College Dean, Associate Dean for Research, and the Senior Director for Administration & Finance. He’ll be expected to create an ambitious, shared vision among students, faculty, administration and external partners that is forward looking, while building on the college’s rich history of strong undergraduate education in agriculture and natural resources. 

In addition, Cox will facilitate development of innovative programs and activities that support undergraduate student recruitment, teaching and learning, and retention in agriculture through experiences for students that are aligned with the values of college and university. He’ll also focus on developing an inclusive culture within the college, ensuring that opportunities are available to all, as well as directing the activities and staff of the Dr. Bill Bennett Student Success Center, supervising the center’s recruitment and retention activities.

In the past Cox’s research has broadly focused 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. In addition, 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. 

He has twice received the Texas Tech President’s Excellence in Teaching Professorship (2018 and 2021) and Davis College’s Teaching Award (2019), in addition to serving as a Texas Tech STEM Teaching, Engagement, and Pedagogy (STEP) Program Faculty Specialist. He was named a member of the university's elite Teaching Academy (2016), and received the Range Science Education Council’s Early Career Undergraduate Teaching Award (2014), and the Texas Tech Alumni Association New Faculty Award (2013).

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. He also worked as a research assistant with the University of California-Riverside’s Center for Conservation Biology, and a teaching assistant with that university’s Department of Botany & Plant Science.

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 botany with a focus on ecology and conservation 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: Clint Krehbiel, Dean, Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2808 or Clint.Krehbiel@ttu.edu

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