Update from the Chair Summer 2021
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EmailAFRE Chair Titus Awokuse shares updates and news from the Department in his last update as Chair.
Dear AFRE community,
It is hard to believe, but this will be my last introduction to the AFRE newsletter as Department Chair. As I noted in the last newsletter, it has been a privilege to serve as chair of this extraordinary department these past six years. I will miss opportunities like this one, where I get to share with you updates on our people's activities and achievements, including AFRE’s good news and the life-changing work taking place here every day. I'm excited to report that the Department will be in excellent hands as our very own Professor Scott Swinton was recently selected as the next AFRE Department Chair. Dr. Swinton joined AFRE 30 years ago and during that time he has developed a growing international reputation as an academic professional and leader with proven commitment to scholarship, teaching, and service to the profession and the department. Dr. Swinton’s commitment to these critical areas of the land grant mission gives me complete confidence that his time as Chair will be a huge success and that AFRE will continue to grow and improve under his leadership. Please join me in congratulating him on this new honor.
In addition to the appointment of Dr. Swinton, I am also pleased to announce that we have recently had three faculty promotions. Dr. Songqing Jin has been promoted to Full Professor with tenure, Dr. Vincenzina Caputo has been promoted to Associate Professor with tenure, and Dr. Milu Muyanaga has been promoted to Associate Professor fixed term. In addition, Dr. Joey Goeb's appointment was reclassified from Research Associate to Assistant Professor (Fixed Term). These promotions are a fitting recognition of their hard work, scholarship, and commitment to excellence in our profession.
It is bittersweet, but AFRE has also experienced several retirements and departures these past few months. We have had several faculty retire from MSU (Professors Lindon Robison, Bob Meyers, and Patricia Norris) and a few others accepting opportunities to join other institutions (Professors Jinhua Zhao, David Hennessy and Hongli Feng). We congratulate each of our departing colleagues on their achievements and we wish them success in their future endeavors. Each of these faculty members have contributed immensely to our department and will be greatly missed.
In this edition of the newsletter there is so much news and people stories that will capture your interests. You will find stories about the impact of our research here in Michigan, nationally, and abroad. For the second year in a row, one of AFRE's undergraduate students was invited to speak at the CANR commencement ceremony. This is a special honor reserved for the best students at MSU. Our faculty continue to be recognized for their research excellence and a member of our staff, Ashleigh Booth, was recognized by the college for her commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Please take the time to read these stories and appreciate the amazing achievements of AFRE people in recent months.
While I will be stepping down as AFRE chair, I am looking forward to continuing to serve at MSU as a Professor in the Department and devoting more of my time to research and teaching in the years ahead. As I reflect on my time in administrative leadership over the past six years, one thought that dominates the rest is that of gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve you and our students. It has been a huge blessing to work as part of a community that is filled with caring and exceptional people who work hard each day toward a common purpose and goal of helping to transform lives and make Michigan and the world a better place. Thank you all for your support.
Go Green!
Titus O. Awokuse
