I am Paul Whitfield Horn Distinguished Professor at the Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute in the Department of Plant and Soil Science at Texas Tech University (TTU), and Associate Vice President for Research in the Office of Research and Innovation. I hold a Ph.D. and a “Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches” from the University of Haute Alsace in France (must have this diploma to be full professor in Europe). Before joining TTU, my experience progressed from cotton breeding at experiment stations in Africa, to head of CIRAD’s Cotton Technology Laboratory in Montpellier - France, to Director of the international cotton program for CIRAD. I generated 115 refereed journal publications, 2 books, 9 book chapters, more than 260 conference papers, 3 patents, 3 provisional patents, and 2 invention disclosure. For many years, I have provided international leadership in research on the measurement of cotton fiber properties and contaminants, including the impacts of these on textile processing performance. I am currently focused on collaborative research with the cotton breeding and cotton biotechnology community to develop improved properties in cotton fibers. I have been PI or Co-PI on 10 funded projects during the period 1992-1997 in France, totaling $2,348,896. I joined Texas Tech University in November 1997, since this date I have been PI or Co-PI on more than 250 funded projects totaling $36,009,276 ($13,032,308 credited to me at TTU). I am teaching the following graduate courses, “Advanced Studies in Cotton Fibers” at Texas Tech University and Texas A&M University, and “US and Global Cotton Fiber – Textile Industries” and “Seminar” at Texas Tech University. I am a member of the International Committee on Testing Methods, International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF), American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC), Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Committee on Cotton Quality Measurements (United States Department of Agriculture), the Fiber Society, the Association for the Advancement of Industrial Crops, (AAIC), the American Society of Agronomy (ASA), and senior member of the National Academy of Inventors. I am a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Cotton Science, Vice-Chair of the Editorial Board and Senior Editor of the Journal of Cotton Research, and manuscript reviewer for Textile Research Journal, Transactions of the ASAE (American Society of Agricultural Engineers), Journal of Electronic Imaging, Agronomy Journal, Journal of Engineered Fibers and Fabrics, Journal of the Textile Institute, Journal of Industrial Textiles, and Crop Science.