UW College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Dean Search Committee Selected

A 19-member committee has been appointed to conduct a national search for a new College of Agriculture and Natural Resources dean at the University of Wyoming.

The new dean will replace longtime Dean Frank Galey, who retired from UW last June. Galey accepted the job of provost and executive vice president at Utah State University. Bret Hess, associate dean of research in the UW College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, is serving as interim dean.

Melinda Benson, dean of UW’s Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, will chair the search committee.

“The next dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources will be a key leader within both the university and the state of Wyoming,” Benson says. “Serving the agricultural community is core to our mission as a land-grant university. I look forward to working with the committee to finding the best possible candidates for the job.”

Other members of the search committee are:

Representatives of academic departments

-- Mike Day, professor and head of the Department of Animal Science.

-- Randa Jabbour, plant sciences assistant professor.

-- John Ritten, agricultural and applied economics associate professor.

-- Derek Scasta, ecosystem science and management assistant professor and UW Extension rangeland specialist.

-- Brant Schumaker, veterinary sciences associate professor.

-- Chrissy Wade, associate professor and interim head of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences.

-- Dan Wall, molecular biology professor.

Representatives of UW Extension and the Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station

-- Amber Armajo, 4-H/youth development Extension educator, Washakie County.

-- Bridger Feuz, agriculture Extension educator, Uinta County.

-- Brian Mealor, director of the Sheridan Research and Extension Center and plant sciences associate professor.

-- Ann Roberson, Extension administrative associate, UW campus.

-- Kentz Willis, nutrition and food safety Extension educator, Sheridan County.

Student representatives

-- Elizabeth Mosqueda, agronomy/plant sciences doctoral candidate, Soledad, Calif.

-- Katie Shockley, agricultural communications major, with a public relations, agricultural and applied economics, and agricultural business minor; and secondary major in management, with minors in management, management and marketing, and entrepreneurship, Wheatland.

External representatives

-- Tim Anderson, Wyoming Crop Improvement Association director, Southeast District.

-- Ogden Driskill, Wyoming State Legislature, joint agriculture committee.

-- Jodi Levin, Levin Strategic Resources legislative consultant, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Advisory Board co-chair.

-- Jim Magagna, Wyoming Stock Growers Association executive vice president.