CALS dean search continues; Hogg named to interim post

David B. Hogg, executive associate dean in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, has been named interim dean while Chancellor John D. Wiley considers two finalists for the post.

“David provides the solid leadership, sound judgment and range of experience needed to lead the college as we identify a new dean,” Wiley says.

The names of three finalists vying to succeed Dean Elton D. Aberle, who is retiring, were submitted to the chancellor and provost earlier this month by an 18-member search and screen committee.

But one finalist, Beverly R. Durgan, associate dean for research and outreach in the College of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, has withdrawn her name from consideration.

The remaining finalists are:

• Douglas D. Buhler, the acting associate director of the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station and acting associate dean for research at the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University in East Lansing.
• Molly Jahn, professor of plant breeding and genetics and plant biology at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.

Wiley plans to interview both finalists soon.

As interim dean, Hogg will lead a college that enrolls more than 2,200 undergraduates and about 1,000 graduate students and has an annual budget of more than $150 million. The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences also has a strong extension and outreach mission, with 12 agricultural research stations across the state.

Hogg, who has been on the faculty since 1979 in the Department of Entomology, chaired the department from 1998-2002. He has been executive associate dean at CALS since 2002.

His research interests include the ecology and dynamics of insects in agricultural cropping systems and insect pest management.