Russell W. Jessup

Dr. Jessup served the US Army (1993-1995), completed his BS (Plant & Environmental Soil Science:1997) and PhD (Plant Breeding:2005) at Texas A&M University, held USDA-ARS post-doctoral (2005-2007) and commercial biofuel (2007-2009) positions, returned to Texas A&M University as an Assistant Professor (2009), and was promoted to Associate Professor (2016). His ‘perennial grass breeding’ position combined departmental turfgrass and forage programs, added biofuels (2009), bioproducts (2015) and hemp (2020) into a ‘biorefinery feedstock breeding’ program. He has received research funding exceeding $7,000,000--supported by US Departments of Energy and Agriculture, international partners, Texas agencies, and corporate sponsors (BP, Scotts-Miracle-Gro, USGA, Cyberlink, New West Genetics, and Rare Earth Genomics). He has written 39 peer-reviewed journal articles, three book chapters, and was the keynote speaker at the International Conference on Organic Farming, Biodynamics, and Modern Agriculture. Dr. Jessup’s teaching exceeds 300 students annually across undergraduate and graduate courses on renewable bioproducts, intellectual property, and turfgrass science. He received the Excellence in Teaching Award (2013), chairs/co-chairs 7 current graduate students, and was the major advisor for 27 previous students. His service includes Honors Faculty, ATM Mentors, Maroon & White Mentors, Veteran Mentor (EBV; Battleground-to-Breaking-Ground), Honor Council, and MEPS leadership committees.