Noureddine Abidi
Texas Tech agricultural scientist and administrator Noureddine Abidi has been appointed a Council on Research Leadership Fellow by the Association of Public & Land-grant Universities, or APLU, a national higher education organization that plays a significant role in shaping research policy and strategy across North America.
‘Strong research universities need strong research leaders. This fellowship helps prepare new leaders for their complex, important roles.’
The appointment marks a first for Texas Tech and places Abidi among a select cohort of emerging research leaders drawn from the nation’s public research universities and land-grant institutions.
Abidi will be formally introduced during the 2026 Council on Research (COR) Summer Meeting in Boulder, Colorado, scheduled for late June. The fellowship is designed to prepare the next generation of senior research administrators through leadership training, peer mentoring and exposure to national research policy issues.
“Strong research universities need strong research leaders,” said COR Chair Rob Rutenbar. “This fellowship helps prepare new leaders for their complex, important roles.”
For Abidi, the fellowship offers an opportunity to broaden his understanding of research administration while building relationships with colleagues confronting similar challenges across higher education.
“My participation in the COR Research Leader Fellowship Program will help me develop knowledge and skills in multiple areas relevant to leading and supporting a complex research enterprise,” Abidi said. “One key component of success in research leadership is peer mentoring and networking across peer institutions.”
University leaders said the fellowship reflects both Abidi’s longstanding contributions to research and Texas Tech’s growing prominence as a national research institution.
“The COR Fellowship goals -- to develop knowledge and skills for leading institutional research agendas, provide broad exposure to leadership training and peer mentoring, and contribute new practices that advance APLU priorities -- map precisely to Dr. Abidi’s professional aims and Texas Tech’s institutional needs,” said Clint Krehbiel, dean of Texas Tech’s Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources.
Joseph Heppert, Texas Tech’s vice president for research and innovation, added that the fellowship will further strengthen Abidi’s leadership capabilities and expand his impact within the university and beyond.
Abidi currently serves as associate dean for research in Davis College. During the past year, he also has served as the university’s interim associate vice president for research and innovation. In addition, he is managing director of the Fiber & Biopolymer Research Institute and the Leidigh Professor in the Department of Plant & Soil Science.
Born in Morocco and educated in Morocco and France, Abidi earned a doctorate in theoretical, physical and analytical chemistry from the University of Montpellier II. Since joining Texas Tech in 1999 as a research associate, he has become one of the university’s leading advocates for applied agricultural research and technology commercialization.
His research portfolio spans cotton fiber development, antimicrobial and self-cleaning textiles, cellulose-based bioproducts and the physicochemical characterization of pollen shells. The work has contributed to advances in sustainable materials and agricultural biotechnology while helping establish Texas Tech as a recognized center for fiber and biopolymer research.
In 2024, Abidi was named a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors, a distinction recognizing significant contributions to innovation, patent development and technology transfer. Since arriving at Texas Tech, he has secured more than $22 million in external research funding, authored 183 peer-reviewed publications and earned three approved patents, with additional patents pending.
CONTACT: Noureddine Abidi, Texas Tech Interim Vice President for Research & Innovation and Associate Dean for Research, Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2808 or noureddine.abidi@ttu.edu
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