By Larry B. Dendy
University of
Georgia
Jay Scott Angle will take the UGA post Aug. 15 pending approval by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents. His appointment was announced today by Arnett C. Mace Jr., UGA’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost.
Angle will fill the position left vacant when Gale A. Buchanan stepped down as dean and director last Dec. 31 and retired from UGA on April 30. Josef Broder has served as interim dean and director since Jan. 1.
Angle is interim executive associate dean and director of the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station, the Maryland Cooperative Extension Service and the University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Experienced
He oversees day-to-day operations, long-term planning and financial resources for the experiment station and extension service, and works closely with the college dean on college administrative matters.A widely published researcher in the field of soil microbiology and biochemistry, he is an authority on phytoremediation, the use of sewage sludge to spur crop growth, and the risks of genetically engineered organisms in agriculture.
He has served as acting executive director of the Northeast Research Association, which promotes regional cooperation in agricultural research, and has also been chair of both the national and Northeast Regional Organizations of Experiment Station Directors.
UGA President Michael F. Adams said Angle “brings a 21st century view of agricultural and environmental sciences that will help project our already-strong college into the upper echelon in the country.
“I believe he will bring an increased emphasis on research, food processing and environmental concerns while maintaining UGA’s historic commitment to extension outreach and Georgia’s all- important agriculture industry,” Adams said.
Mace added that Angle’s “distinguished record as a faculty member in teaching, research and cooperative extension, and his distinguished record as an administrator for visionary education, research and cooperative extension programs, will enable him to provide leadership to further enhance the excellence of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. I look forward to working with Scott to advance programs of the college.”
The CAES, founded in 1859, is the second-oldest of UGA’s 15 schools and colleges. The college offers more than 20 areas of study through 11 departments, and operates three agricultural experiment stations, four extension educational centers and the Rural Development Center in Tifton. The Cooperative Extension Service, which has agents in 157 of Georgia’s 159 counties and operates the 4-H program, is also part of the college.
“The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences is one of the prestigious programs in the U.S. and one that has remained true to its land grant mission,” said Angle. “I consider it an honor to be selected as dean and director of such an outstanding institution. I look forward to working with the faculty, staff and students, and all citizens of the state of Georgia, as we move the college forward.”
Lead scientist, administrator
Angle earned his bachelor’s degree in agronomy and master’s in soil microbiology at the University of Maryland and has spent his entire professional career there except for three years when he worked on his doctorate at the University of Missouri.He joined the agronomy faculty in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources in 1981. In 1994 he became the associate director of the Agricultural Experiment Station and associate dean of the college, and in 2003 became interim executive associate dean for the experiment station and Maryland Cooperative Extension.
Competitive funding for faculty research has more than doubled since he assumed administrative duties.
He helped the college get new buildings and facilities on and off campus. He established the nation’s first inner-city facility for agricultural and forestry research and extension in Baltimore City.
Angle has been a leader or member of research teams that have received several million dollars in grants. He is author or co- author of some 300 scientific papers, reports, book chapters and other publications.
Angle has been a Fulbright Scholar and is a fellow of the American Society of Agronomy and the Soil Science Society of America. He received the agronomy society’s environmental research award in 1998 and the education award in 2003. He also received the University of Maryland Distinguished Teacher- Scholar Award in 2003.
(Larry Dendy is the assistant to the associate vice president for public affairs of the University of Georgia.)
