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Finalists named for CALS dean

August 3, 2011 By Jill Sakai

The University of Wisconsin–Madison today announced three finalists for the position of dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

Following an extensive national search, a 16-member committee chaired by professor of plant pathology Patricia McManus and composed of faculty, staff, students, and current and former members of the CALS Board of Visitors has recommended the three candidates to Interim Chancellor David Ward and Provost Paul M. DeLuca Jr.

The finalists are:

Peter Hanson, global head of project and portfolio management at Georgia-based Merial, a leading animal health company.

In his 14 years with the company, Hanson has worked extensively in animal health. His responsibilities included a stint as head of pharmaceutical research and development and shepherding a new anti-inflammatory from development through FDA approval for treatment of pain associated with arthritis in dogs and horses.

Hanson holds a D.V.M. in veterinary medicine from the University of Minnesota and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in veterinary science from UW–Madison and is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons. He has been a member of the CALS board of visitors for the past three years.

James Moyer, professor and head of the Department of Plant Pathology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

Moyer has been a North Carolina State faculty member since 1976, conducting research on major viral diseases that affect vegetable, ornamental, and field crops, including fundamental investigations of the genome organization and genetics of tospoviruses. He has been recognized by the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and the floral crop industry for his contributions and is a fellow and former president of the American Phytopathological Society.

Moyer has M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in plant pathology from the Pennsylvania State University.

Kathryn VandenBosch, professor and head of the Department of Plant Biology at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul.

VandenBosch’s research focuses on the genetics of plant-microbe interactions and nitrogen fixation in legumes. She is also active in university governance as a member and former chair of the Faculty and Senate Consultative Committees and, in 2006, served as interim dean of the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences.

Prior to her tenure at the University of Minnesota, VandenBosch was a faculty member at Texas A&M University for a dozen years. She holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in botany from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

The finalists will visit campus early this fall to meet with campus faculty, staff, students, administrators, governance and other groups. Their visits will include presentations open to the entire campus community. More information will become available once the visits are scheduled.

The new dean will replace Interim Dean William F. Tracy, who has held the position since Jan. 2. Tracy will return to his roles as professor and chair of the Department of Agronomy.

Established in 1889, CALS enrolls approximately 2,600 undergraduate and 1,000 graduate students and carries out UW–Madison’s mission as a public land-grant university. The dean is the chief academic and executive officer of the college, with responsibility for personnel, budget, fund raising, community relations, curriculum, academic affairs, and physical facilities.

The dean oversees the college’s 19 academic departments, which span environmental, social, and basic life sciences and production agriculture, as well as numerous research centers and a range of outreach and university extension activities. The dean also coordinates Cooperative Extension Service programs within the college and serves as director of the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station.