King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management

The King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management was inaugurated in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the King Ranch in 2003. In keeping with their long history of leadership and philanthropy, the King Ranch and its family and friends endowed the King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management for its operation and in support of its students.

The vision of the institute is to educate leaders who will make a positive difference in ranching and ensure that our hard earned heritage is not lost. Its mission is to teach graduate students using a multi-disciplinary, systems approach to ranch management, and provide the highest quality lectureships and symposia to stakeholders in the ranching industry. We serve the ranching industry by empowering graduate students and outreach attendees with skills that will enable them to strategically manage complex ranching operations and successfully lead our industry.

The program is designed for a higher level of study, and emphasizes the recruitment of mature and experienced students, who will be trained for the complexities of managing ranches. A system approach is used to provide students with a broad background in business, animal science, wildlife management and range management. The curriculum is enhanced with a series of lectureships on special topics such as the oil and gas industry, wildlife habitat management, law and current issues. An annual symposium with world class speakers is presented that will further students’ education and training. King Ranch and other large ranches are used as teaching laboratories. Each student is given the opportunity to spend extended time on two internships with cooperating ranches.