Todd Brashears, a professor within Texas Tech’s Department of Agricultural Education & Communications, has been named the national president of the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE). Brashears, who also serves as an educational specialist for the university’s International Center for Food Industry Excellence, will take the organization’s helm next week (Apr. 14-17) at a conference in Inverness, Scotland.
Established in 1984, AIAEE is a professional organization for agricultural and extension educators who share a common goal of strengthening agricultural and extension education programs and institutions worldwide. Its mission is to connect international extension and educational professionals and encourage collaboration and improve educational and extension delivery systems.
“I am honored and excited to begin my term as president for AIAEE. This is an international organization whose sole purpose is to continually improve the dissemination of agricultural knowledge to populations around the world,” said Brashears.
“The focus of my term as president will be to continue to grow the membership and impact of our organization and serve our members as we prepare to host the 2026 conference at our Texas Tech campus in Costa Rica,” he said.
His research focuses on the components of educational programming and the interaction of personal characteristics, knowledge, and behaviors in the agricultural workforce. Within multiple Latin American countries, he has worked with multidisciplinary colleagues to facilitate effective training that improves the level of safety in a multitude of food products, consumed domestically and exported to the United State.
Within the Department of Agricultural Education & Communications, he teaches agricultural leadership undergraduate and graduate courses. Earlier in his career, Brashears worked as a secondary agricultural science teacher in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Honors include being named Davis College’s Outstanding Young Faculty Member and Outstanding Teacher. He has been recognized for the outstanding research paper in both the Southern and Western Regions of the AAAE and was first runner-up at the national level. He was recognized as the national award winner for the profession’s outstanding dissertation award in 2004.
Brashears earned his bachelor's degree in agricultural economics and master’s degree in agricultural education from Oklahoma State University. His doctorate in agricultural education is from Texas Tech. He is a member of the Southern Region of the American Association for Agricultural Education.
Texas Tech’s Department of Agricultural Education & Communications has approximately 15 faculty members with 285 undergraduate students and 103 graduate students. Faculty members within the department specialize in one of three disciplinary areas: Teacher Education, Agricultural Communications, and Agricultural Leadership. Master’s degrees are available in Agricultural Education and Agricultural Communications. A departmental Ph.D. program allows students to focus on any of the three areas, and an online Ed.D. program allows for continuing education of place-bound, mid-career professionals.
CONTACT: Scott Burris, Chair, Department of Agricultural Education & Communications, Texas Tech University at (806) 834-8689 or scott.burris@ttu.edu
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