USDA-NIFA National Program Leader Selected to Lead PSS Department - Texas Tech University

Kumar comes to Tech directly from Washington, where he served as national program leader in the Institute of Bioenergy, Climate and Environment at USDA-NIFA. That role put him at the center of how the federal government funds and directs agricultural and environmental research across the country, which makes him a high-profile hire for a department that trains the people growing food on the South Plains and beyond.

For students and faculty in the PSS department, the hire signals a potential shift toward more federally connected research. Kumar has direct relationships inside the agency that funds a significant portion of university agricultural science, and that kind of institutional access can open doors for grants and partnerships that smaller programs rarely land.

Kumar said he plans to expand interdisciplinary research and focus on preparing the next generation of leaders in the field. He also pointed to building on what the department has already established rather than overhauling it from scratch.

Texas Tech's Plant and Soil Science department sits inside the Davis College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, one of the university's oldest colleges.