Contact: Jim Laird
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A veteran researcher and campus administrator is assuming a new role at Mississippi State.
William B. "Benjy" Mikel has been named associate vice president for international programs and executive director of the university's International Institute. He begins his role May 20, pending formal approval of the Board of Trustees, State Institutions of Higher Learning.
Mikel currently is professor and head of the department of food science, nutrition and health promotion and director of the Food Science Institute. He also serves as principal investigator for the university's nutrition education program and interim head of the poultry science department.
He will report jointly to the university's provost and executive vice president, and the vice presidents for research and economic development and agriculture, forestry and veterinary medicine.
An MSU doctoral graduate, Mikel has developed an extensive track record of accomplishments in food science, extension and industry service, and has been involved in more than two dozen international ventures and various multistate extension and research projects. (For more, visit www.fsnhp.msstate.edu/faculty/detail.php?faculty=bm.
Mikel now will be responsible for fostering and providing oversight to international scholarship, research and outreach in support of the vision of the university's administration, faculty and staff in the goal of promoting and expanding the institution's global visibility and activities. The comprehensive international program will be consistent with MSU's strategic planning, stakeholder needs and its land-grant mission.
He also will lead the team that helps guide the administration in the delivery of services to members of the university community participating in international activities.
Mississippi State is online at http://www.msstate.edu.