Department of Agricultural Economics adds to roster of experienced professionals

The Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ Department of Agricultural Economics has added two faculty members.

“We are glad to have Ronald Crowe and David Roach as new additions to the department,” said Rudy Nayga, Ph.D., head of the Department of Agricultural Economics. “They both have teaching and practical experience and will bring a wealth of knowledge to their students and the department.”    

Ronald Crowe, Ph.D.

Ronald Crowe, Ph.D., began his new role as instructional assistant professor in the Department of Agriculture Economics on Jan. 1.

Crowe teaches agricultural finance for agricultural economics majors and corporate finance for agribusiness majors. He will also develop an upper-level finance course for agricultural economics majors that will include elements of corporate finance, banking and sports finance.

Max “Dusty” Menzies, Ph.D., instructional associate professor and associate department head for undergraduate programs, said Crowe’s background as an instructor of finance will be crucial to the department as more than half of the students are in the finance and real estate option of the agricultural economics degree.

“We hope to tap into Dr. Crowe’s expertise to bring new technologies and ideas to our students,” Menzies said. “He is also leading an effort to resurrect our long-running student F.I.R.E. organization for finance, insurance and real estate students.”

Crowe’s diverse teaching experience

Crowe earned his bachelor’s in agricultural economics from Texas A&M University in 1981. He continued his higher education in Florida, receiving a master’s degree in applied economics and a doctorate in finance from the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

He began his career as an Osceola County Cooperative Extension Service agent in Orlando, Florida. His responsibilities included overseeing adult education programs in small farming and horses, youth education programs in horses and leadership, and serving as a summer camp director.

Since then, Crowe has had a long and distinguished academic career at various universities throughout the southern U.S., including Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio and several institutions in Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

At many of the universities where he worked, Crowe assisted in developing their Master of Business Administration, MBA, degree programs while also teaching courses in business analytics, business finance, personal finance and corporate finance.

As part of an international teaching exchange, he also taught a course in the evaluation of investment projects at the Universidad Anahuac in Puebla, Mexico.

Most recently, Crowe was an economics instructor at Blinn College in Bryan prior to joining Texas A&M’s Department of Agricultural Economics as an instructional assistant professor.

Crowe said he views teaching as a calling and uses team-based learning to teach quantitative applications to prepare students for their future careers.

“I’m excited to be at A&M and to bring my 30-plus years of teaching to create value and serve the mission of building future leaders,” he said.

Professional affiliations and additional experience

Crowe has published in Academy of Economics and Finance Proceedings, Academy of Business Education Proceedings and Financial Education Association Proceedings.

He has professional affiliations with the Financial Educators Association, Financial Executives International – San Antonio, where he served as a two-term president and academic chair, and the Financial Management Association.

Crowe was an agribusiness entrepreneur in the 80s, consulting on cow-calf operations and composting feasibility, along with artificial insemination sales and services. In the 90s, he was a football official for high school games and semiprofessional leagues in Alabama. He was a high school baseball umpire in Alabama and Tennessee.  

David Roach, MBA                                                                  

David Roach also began his career in the land-grant university cooperative extension system as a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service program assistant in Leon County.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from Texas A&M and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Texas Permian Basin.

While associated with the Department of Agricultural Economics since 2019, on Jan.1 he became a full-time faculty lecturer to help bolster the department’s financial planning education opportunities.

Previously, Roach had been instrumental in developing the department’s Money Education Center, which has now educated over 32,000 students. As a money education advisor at the center, he conducted more than 650 public speaking engagements for various faculty members and student groups.

While working at the center, Roach became a visiting lecturer for the Financial Planning Program at Texas A&M, teaching the Foundations of Money Education course. This course has enrolled more than 4,450 students from more than 100 majors.

In early 2022, he was made an academic advisor in the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Advising Hub. In that role, he counseled undergraduate students within both the Agricultural Communications and Journalism and Agricultural Leadership and Development programs. He advised for multiple majors and more than 1,350 student appointments. He also coordinated both the change of curriculum and readmission processes for the Agricultural Leadership and Development program to ensure the growth of their majors.

In his new position, Roach will be a lecturer and the second full-time instructor for the Foundations of Money Education course, which has an enrollment of 500 students for the spring 2024 semester. In addition to his teaching duties, he was recently named the faculty advisor for the Financial Planning Student Association.

“I’m excited to be part of the new financial planning major in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M and hope to teach as many as 1,200 students during the academic year going forward,” Roach said.

Nathan Harness, Ph.D., director of the Department of Agricultural Education’s Financial Planning Program, said the Foundations of Money Education course, a key component of Texas A&M’s new financial planning major, has significantly enhanced financial literacy on campus.

“This essential life skills course requires instructors who possess not only the relevant experience and education but also the capacity to connect with a new generation,” Harness said.

He said Roach’s extensive background in financial education has been pivotal in making this course one of the most sought-after on campus.

Speaking engagements, professional affiliations and honors

In his speaking engagements for Texas A&M, Roach has covered topics in financial education ranging from money management, credit building, financially preparing for graduation, student loan repayment, car buying and home buying to investing, retirement planning and more. He also advised more than 2,400 private appointments regarding an array of financial matters.

Roach’s previous professional affiliations include service as treasurer of the University Advisors and Counselors Executive Board, member of the Texas Association of Collegiate Financial Education Professionals, and member of the University Advisors and Counselors Advisor Briefing Day Committee.

In 2018, Roach was an Academic Services Pillars of Excellence Team Award recipient. The Money Education Center was recognized in 2019 as a national leader in financial education at the White House Summit on Preparing Students for Financial Success.