Richard Zartman, a former Chair and Leidigh Professor of Soil Physics within Texas Tech’s Department of Plant & Soil Science, was inducted into the academic unit’s Hall of Fame at a 2 p.m. ceremony on Friday (Apr. 11) in the Bayer Plant Science West Building Atrium. Zartman retired in 2014 after more than four decades of teaching, research and eventual administration of the department.
“Dr. Zartman was the consummate mentor to students and younger faculty members in our department,” said Glen Ritchie, professor of crop physiology and chair of the Department of Plant & Soil Science. “Many of us in the department today knew him and considered him a friend and mentor, and he willingly served as chair of the department during a time of financial uncertainty for Texas universities.”
During his time at Texas Tech, Zartman focused his research on evaluating the infiltration and distribution of water in playa lake ecosystems. In addition, his research was funded by the U.S. Department of Defense to determine the fate of a bioterrorist agent in natural and human-modified environments. His classroom duties included teaching courses in urban soils, soil physical properties and geostatistics.
Zartman has served as chairman of the department from 2011-2014. He joined Texas Tech’s faculty in 1974 as an assistant professor of soil physics and was named a full professor in 1991. He was named associate chair in 1998 and served as interim chairman of the department during the fall of 2000.
Honors for Zartman include Davis College’s Outstanding Researcher Award (2003, 2006) and Texas Tech President’s Excellence in Teaching Award (2001). He was named a member of the university’s Teaching Academy in 2003.
Zartman earned a bachelor’s degree in agronomy from The Ohio State University, and his doctorate in soil physics with a minor in math is from the University of Kentucky. He was a member of the American Society of Agronomy, International Soil Science Society, and Soil and Water Conservation Society of America.
Previous members of the Department of Plant & Soil Science Faculty Hall of Fame include Cynthia McKenney (2024); Dick Auld (2023); Norman Hopper (2022); Ellen Peffley (2015); Dan Krieg (2013) and George Tereshkovich (2012); B.L Allen (2009); Donald Ashdown (2006); and Cecil Ayers (2002).
CONTACT: Glen Ritchie, Department Chair, Department of Plant & Soil Science, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-4325 or glen.ritchie@ttu.edu
0214NM25