Todd Brashears, Ed.D.

M. Todd Brashears, Ed.D. is a professor of Agricultural Leadership in the Department of Agricultural Education and Communications and Educational Specialist for the International Center for Food Industry Excellence (ICFIE) at Texas Tech University. His social science research agenda focuses on the components of educational programming and the interaction of personal characteristics, knowledge, and behaviors within the agricultural workforce. He specializes in custom training designed to elicit behavior change within a population. He works across the U.S. and multiple Latin American countries to facilitate technology transfer to rural populations by identifying local opinion leaders and innovators and providing technical knowledge and assistance that improves agricultural production and marketing.  Dr. Brashears works with his multidisciplinary colleagues to facilitate effective training that improves the level of safety in a multitude of food products. He is a former secondary agricultural science teacher in Lincoln, Nebraska, and currently teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Agricultural Leadership. He holds a B.S. in Agricultural Economics and a M.S. in Agricultural Education from Oklahoma State University. His Doctorate is in Agricultural Education from Texas Tech.

Dr. Brashears has received numerous teaching and research awards during his time at Texas Tech University including being named CASNR’s Outstanding Young Faculty Member and Outstanding Teacher. He has been recognized numerous research paper awards at the regional and state level. He was recognized as the national award winner for the profession’s outstanding dissertation award in 2004.

He is a member of the Southern Region AAAE, is an officer for the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE) and the past editor of the Journal of International Agriculture and Extension Education (JIAEE).  Aside from his duties at Texas Tech, Dr. Brashears also served the state of Texas as a Member of the Board of Directors for the Brazos River Authority, a position he was appointed to by Governor Rick Perry in 2010.