WT Ag Professor Marcillo Selected for Prestigious USDA Fellowship

CANYON, Texas — A West Texas A&M University agriculture professor is one of only 20 educators from Hispanic Serving Institutions around the country selected for an esteemed fellowship with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Dr. Guillermo Marcillo, assistant professor of agricultural statistics in WT’s Paul Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, was named this month as an E. Kika De La Garza Education, High School and Science Fellow. The program links USDA and Hispanic Serving Institutions to help build awareness in Hispanic communities of USDA services, resources and employment opportunities.

“There is a pool of hundreds of applicants from all over the country for this very prestigious fellowship,” Marcillo said. “What this represents is an enormous opportunity for institutions like WT that serve a Hispanic population, and it also allows me to develop future collaborations with scientists at the federal level.”

Marcillo is one of five science fellows chosen for the De La Garza program in 2022. In addition to a week in Washington, D.C., beginning July 11, where he will interact with USDA leaders on national and regional issues and policy, Marcillo will spend an additional week working with top scientists in Genetics and Sustainable Agriculture Research Unit at the USDA Agricultural Research Service lab at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi.

Marcillo is the first WT professor selected for the fellowship.

“We are very proud that Dr. Marcello was selected for this prestigious recognition,” said Dr. Kevin Pond, dean of the Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences. “His selection underscores WT’s success and commitment in serving all people.”