UTAH STATE APPOINTS NEW DEANS IN AGRICULTURE, BUSINESS COLLEGES
The Utah State University Board of Trustees today approved the appointments of two new deans, including the first woman dean in both the College of Agriculture and the College of Business.
Noelle E. Cockett, currently vice provost of academic affairs at Utah State, was approved as dean of the College of Agriculture. Caryn L. Beck-Dudley, department head of Management and Human Resources at Utah State, was approved as dean of the College of Business.
Utah State President Kermit L. Hall said both new deans have impressive resumes at all levels of their professional careers. They have proven records of both teaching and research excellence, and each of them has already developed strong relationships with the Utah communities they serve.
,We have been fortunate to have these two exceptional people here on campus as part of our university team, and now we are fortunate that they have agreed to help lead our efforts,‰ Hall said.
Cockett‚s appointment received high praise from Booth Wallentine, chief executive officer of the Utah Farm Bureau. He said Cockett will be an extremely effective dean who will bring new ideas to a position that is important for both Utah‚s agricultural community and the entire state.
,Agriculture is a $3.2 billion industry in Utah, and Utah State‚s College of Agriculture is critically important to that industry,‰ Wallentine said. ,I know Dr. Cockett well and the Farm Bureau offers her its full support. She is a geneticist of great renown, and she has a comprehensive understanding of the livestock industry through her personal background, as well as through her academic training and research.‰
Cockett, who was raised on a traditional Montana ranch, said she has deep roots in agriculture that began in childhood and continue today in her professional career as a leading voice in sheep genomics research. She believes strongly that research has to translate always into some improved benefit for the community, and it is that belief that has allowed her to forge such strong relationships with the agricultural community with which she works.
,I‚ve been at Utah State for 12 years, and I‚ve seen how our expertise in the college has helped the people of this state,‰ she said. ,Our people in the college ˜ across all disciplines ˜ provide an invaluable service, whether it‚s teaching, training them for careers in agriculture, offering research solutions to their problems, or providing immediate help through our Extension efforts.‰
Cockett is a professor in the Department of Animal, Dairy and Veterinary Sciences at Utah State. She served as interim dean of the School of Graduate Studies for Utah State University. She received her master‚s and doctorate degrees in animal breeding and genetics from Oregon State University. She came to Utah State in 1990.
Cockett’s research has centered on the identification of genetic markers associated with economically important traits in livestock. Her current projects include characterization of the callipyge gene causing muscle hypertrophy in sheep and identification of genetic markers for parasite resistance in sheep. Her laboratory has identified the gene that causes Spider Lamb Syndrome.
In recognition of her research accomplishments, Cockett received the 1998 Young Scientist Award for the Western Section of the American Society of Animal Science. She was named an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow in 2000 and will receive the D. Wynne Thorne Research Award from Utah State University in 2002.
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Beck-Dudley‚s appointment received high marks of praise from Jerry H. Baker, partner of Baker/Parker and Associates, a leading executive search firm with clients world-wide. Baker, who conducted the search in conjunction with the search committee, said Beck-Dudley was among the top candidates to surface during a national search of the top 100 business schools in the nation.
He said her background as an attorney, as well as her astute knowledge of business in many areas, gave her a unique edge on many candidates.
,Her credentials, scholarship, research and managerial skill enabled her to more than hold her own with other external candidates,‰ Baker said. ,I found Dr. Beck-Dudley to be an extremely polished, accomplished scholar and leader whose credentials are extraordinarily appropriate for this position at Utah State.‰
Beck-Dudley‚s resume is filled with examples of teaching and research excellence, and her entire educational experience has been at land-grant universities so she has a comprehensive understanding of the college‚s mission to the state. She also has administrative experience as department head of Management and Human Resources, which has what is considered the premier human resources graduate program in the Intermountain West.
,We have a tradition of entrepreneurship in the college that I will certainly continue to foster,‰ Beck-Dudley said. ,We are noted, too, for our strong undergraduate curriculum as well as our excellent master‚s degree programs. We will continue to take these programs across the state, region and even the world.‰
Beck-Dudley is a Utah State alum, graduating in political science in 1980. She received a law degree from University of Idaho in 1983. She has taught at Utah State since 1984, where she has a long record of accomplishment as a teacher and a researcher. She has been College of Business Teacher of the Year and has received three national awards for excellence in research. She is on the editorial board of the American Business Law Journal, and she served a president and executive committee member of the Academy of Legal Studies in Business.
Utah State Provost Stan Albrecht said he knows both new deans well and is pleased that they have accepted the positions.
,Dr. Cockett has provided exceptional leadership in numerous assignments at USU, and Dr. Beck-Dudley has an extremely successful record of teaching, research and service in the College of Business,‰ Albrecht said. ,I look forward to working more closely with each of them.‰
The appointments will be effective July 1, 2002. Starting salary for each position is $135,000.
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Noelle Cockett, named Dean of Agriculture ( )