Contact: Maridith Geuder
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Longtime Mississippi State administrator Vance H. Watson now formally is director of MSU Extension and Outreach, a position he has held on an interim basis since 2005.
The new title was approved in August by the state Board of Trustees, Institutions of Higher Learning.
For some time, Watson has been vice president of the Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine, director of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station and dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
"With Dr. Watson in this overall leadership role, we have someone with a proven depth of knowledge who is committed to Mississippi State's mission of extending its service throughout the state," said President Robert H. "Doc" Foglesong.
The conflation of titles across the division will "provide a chance to blend a variety of organizations into one team and create operating efficiencies," he added.
A Missouri native, Watson began his tenure at the land-grant institution in 1966 as an assistant professor of agronomy. During his 41-year career, he has held successively responsible positions, including a variety of leadership roles in the areas he now heads.
Watson is the author of more than 300 publications, including six textbook chapters. Among his many service activities is a five-year appointment as executive vice president of the Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies, an international organization for genetic standards and certification of 3,500 varieties of crops produced in nine countries.
He is a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy and the Crop Science Society of America. His MSU honors include recognition by the MSU Alumni Association for excellence in research and selection by two student groups as professor of the year.
Watson holds a bachelor's degree from Southeast Missouri State University, a master's from the University of Missouri and a doctorate from Mississippi State.
The Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine includes the colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences; Forest Resources; and Veterinary Medicine. The division also includes the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station; the MSU Extension Service; and the Forest and Wildlife Research Center.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.