Former deputy undersecretary for research, education and economics at USDA
Brigham Young University has announced the appointment of Rodney J. Brown, deputy undersecretary for research, education and economics at the United States Department of Agriculture, as the new dean of the College of Biology and Agriculture.
“Rod is an able administrator who brings wonderful experience to the job,” said Academic Vice President John S. Tanner. “He has an excellent scientific background and we’re looking forward to his leadership in the college.”
Brown replaces R. Kent Crookston, who will return to full-time teaching and research as a professor of plant and animal science at BYU.
A food scientist by training, Brown is a national leader in agricultural teaching, research and extension.
Raised on a dairy farm in Coalville, Utah, he received degrees from BYU, Utah State University and North Carolina State University and spent two years as a research scientist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.
Since then, he has been a faculty member, department head, dean and interim vice president for research at Utah State University.
While at the USDA, he served as senior program liaison between Earth Science Enterprise at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Recently Brown chaired the Board on Agriculture of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, during which time formal links with the Interuniversity Council on Agriculture in Europe were established.
One of his interests for the past few years has been assisting in the founding of the Arab American University at Jenin.
His honors include the American Dairy Science Association Pfizer, Inc. Award for Cheese and Cultured Products Research; the Utah State University Leone Administrative Leadership Award; G. Malcolm Trout Visiting Scholar, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Michigan State University; and the Utah State University President's Diversity Award.
