Contact: Sasha Steinberg

STARKVILLE, Miss.—After temporarily pausing the search for a new vice president for Mississippi State’s Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine, MSU is announcing the members of the search committee and resuming the search process.

The search was postponed in March amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Veteran MSU agriculture administrator Reuben Moore has been serving as interim vice president of DAFVM since March 2019.

The 19-member search committee now in place includes university faculty, staff, administrators and external stakeholders. The committee is chaired by MSU Provost and Executive Vice President David Shaw.

“The Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine contains many vital academic, research and service units that play key roles at the state, national and global level,” Shaw said. “The hard-working faculty and staff in the division have carried out their missions throughout this pandemic and stepped up to serve the university and state in admirable ways. As we begin to look toward the challenges and opportunities that the future will bring, we feel that it is time to resume this search process. I want to thank the committee members for their continued work in support of this effort.”

In addition to Shaw, committee members are:

—Suja Aarattuthodiyil, Assistant Research Professor, Delta Research and Extension Center

—Brian Baldwin, Professor, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

—Shelby Bearden, Extension Agent IV, MSU Extension - Copiah County

—Jeb Cade, Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine

—Jeffrey Gore, Research Professor, Delta Research and Extension Center

—Robert Grala, Professor, Department of Forestry, College of Forest Resources and Forest and Wildlife Research Center

—Carla Huston, Professor and Director of Enhanced Clinical Education, Department of Pathobiology and Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine

—Andy Kouba, Professor and Head, Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture, College of Forest Resources and Forest and Wildlife Research Center

—Curt Lacy, Extension Professor and Regional Extension Coordinator, Delta Research and Extension Center

—Anna Linhoss, Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Bagley College of Engineering and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; Associate Director, Geosystems Research Institute and Northern Gulf Institute; and DAFVM Faculty Senate Chair

—Betsy Lipscomb, Past President, Mississippi Veterinary Medical Association

—Josh Maples, Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

—Mike McCormick, President, Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation

—Sorina Popescu, Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology and Plant Pathology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

—Tedrick Ratcliff, Executive Vice President, Mississippi Forestry Association

—Bubba Simmons, Advisory Research Committee Chairman, Delta Council

—Tiffney Williams, Administrative Assistant II, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; and Staff Council member

—Don Zant, Vice President for Finance and Administration, Division of Finance and Administration

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.