UGA Launches National Search for Agriculture Dean

Sam Fahmy

Thursday, February 6th, 2020

Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost S. Jack Hu has appointed a 24-member committee to begin a national search for candidates for the position of dean and director of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

The committee is co-chaired by Jennifer Frum, vice president for Public Service and Outreach, and Dale Greene, dean of the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. It includes faculty, staff and student representation, as well as representatives from industry and state government. In addition, the university will retain an external search firm to help identify candidates.

Faculty, staff, students or community members who wish to nominate candidates for consideration are invited to contact Michael Luthi, director of the UGA Search Group, at [email protected].

The search committee members are:

Jennifer Frum, vice president for Public Service and Outreach (co-chair)

Dale Greene, dean of the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources (co-chair)

James C. Anderson II, assistant professor in the department of agricultural leadership, education and communication

Gary Black, Commissioner of Agriculture, State of Georgia

Timothy Brenneman, professor of plant pathology on the UGA Tifton campus

Bill Brim, chief executive officer and partner, Lewis Taylor Farms

Kylie Bruce, an undergraduate student majoring in poultry science, a member of the Avian Ambassador Program and the CAES Transfer Team

Robert E. Burton, chief executive officer, burton + BURTON and a member of the Georgia 4-H Foundation board

Miguel Cabrera, Georgia Power Professor in Environmental Remediation and Soil Chemistry in the department of crop and soil sciences

Toby Carr, vice president for government relations

Kylee Jo Duberstein, associate professor in the department of animal and dairy science

Cesar Escalante, professor in the department of agricultural and applied economics

Mary Formo, academic advisor in the CAES Office of Academic Affairs

Kent Fountain, President, Southeastern Gin and Peanut

Mike Giles, president of the Georgia Poultry Federation and a member of the Georgia 4-H Foundation board

Francisco Diez-Gonzalez, professor in the department of food science and technology and director of the Center for Food Safety on the UGA Griffin campus

Zenglu Li, Georgia Seed Development Professor in Soybean Breeding and Genetics in the department of crop and soil sciences and a faculty member in the Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics

Mark McCann, assistant dean for extension

Lisa Nolan, Georgia Athletics Association Distinguished Professor and dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine

Steven Stice, D.W. Brooks Professor and GRA Eminent Scholar in the department of animal and dairy science and director of the Regenerative Bioscience Center

Michael R. Strand, H.M. Pulliam Chair in the department of entomology

Esther van der Knaap, professor in the department of horticulture and a faculty member in the Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics, as well as the Center for Applied Genetic Technologies

Ron Walcott, professor in the department of plant pathology and interim dean of the Graduate School

Jeanna L. Wilson, professor in the department of poultry science

Samuel Pardue, who has led the college since 2016, recently announced that he will be stepping down as dean on June 30.