About Jerry

In 1965 Dr. Cox began college at New Mexico State University. Five years later, he graduated with a degree in Agriculture and minors in Biology and Chemistry. He was accepted into a MS degree program at Oklahoma State University, but received a draft notice before reaching Stillwater, Oklahoma. After almost three years in the Army and a tour in Vietnam, Dr. Cox enrolled a second time in New Mexico State University. In summer 1974, he was awarded a MS and immediately thereafter enrolled at the University of Wyoming. In fall 1978, he was awarded a Ph.D.

Dr. Cox spent a year at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas teaching classes in Range Management, Wildlife Management, Soil Classification and Statistics. His primary research effort was rangeland improvement using burning, seeding and grazing practices.

In January 1980, there was a move to Tucson, Arizona where Dr. Cox joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service. In following years, he traveled extensively and conducted research in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, and Pakistan. His research focused on the restoration of degraded grazing lands. Dr. Cox received research appointments at the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, Texas Tech University, and Texas A&M University, and supervised many graduate students. Dr. Cox published almost 100 research and technical publications, and in 1990 was awarded a Visiting Scientist Position by the South African Department of Agriculture and RUMAVITE, a private agriculture company.

Following a lengthy research career, Dr. Cox accepted an administrative appointment with Texas A&M as a Resident Director and Extension Specialist at Vernon, Texas. In that capacity, he aided in the successful competition for more than 8 million (USD) in grants and contracts.

After a 32-year absence from his place of birth, he returned and began a second career in the Carlsbad School System, Carlsbad, New Mexico. While teaching at Carlsbad High School, Dr. Cox observed that Special Education students had little interaction with other students. After discussions of this problem with the administration and State Senator Don Kidd, Dr. Cox proposed a teaching greenhouse where high performing Special Education students were paired with challenged Special Education students. For ten years, students in this program worked together to annually produce three to four tons of tomatoes. During this ten-year period, the students worked so well together that one could not tell the difference the  between the high level and challenged special education students.

Dr. Cox proposed, and the school administration approved a program where beginning Biology students were placed in classes of: (1) all girls, (2) all boys, or (3) mixed classes. Data collected over five years clearly demonstrated that females in all female classes and males in all male classes outperformed students in mixed classes.

In 2013, Dr. Cox began a third career. He and Judy moved to the mountains of Northern New Mexico. Eight months of each year, Judy runs a B&B (advertised with Air BnB) under the name of Rabbit Peak Rooms to Rent, while Dr. Cox grows and markets organic asparagus, irrigates fields, and grows trout and calves. In winter, the pair moves south to Las Cruces, New Mexico, where Dr. Cox works on his next book.