In 1988 Dr. Mani Skaria moved to South Texas as a research scientist for the Texas A&M Citrus Center. He had previously developed a citrus program for the Kingdom of Jordan with USAID and then was a professor at Washington State University working with the apple industry.

In 2019 for his contributions to the Texas citrus industry, Dr. Skaria is made Professor Emeritus at Texas A&M - Kingsville and is recognized with the prestigious Pott's Award.