News section
Dr. Robert E. Whitson named deputy director of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station
October 23, 2003

Dr. Robert E. Whitson has been named deputy director of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, a post he has held on an interim basis since August.

"Bob has been doing an excellent job, and he's proven to be a valuable member of our leadership team," said Dr. Ed Hiler, who announced the appointment Wednesday. "He's been well received by our research faculty and by our many friends and clients throughout the state."

Hiler is vice chancellor and dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and remains director of the Experiment Station. Whitson will handle day-to-day operations for the Experiment Station, the state's major agricultural research arm and an agency of The Texas A&M University System.

Whitson succeeds Dr. Charles Scifres, who died unexpectedly in July.

"I am pleased to have the opportunity to work with both internal and external stakeholders in aggressively moving the Experiment Station's statewide research agenda forward," Whitson said. "The agency will soon be finalizing our Science Management Roadmap, which will identify priority research areas and focus our efforts for the future."

The Experiment Station supports the work of more than 450 scientists involved in research on the Texas A&M University campus and some two dozen sites around the state.

For the last 10 years, Whitson has been professor and head of the university's department of rangeland ecology and management. Working with the faculty, Whitson led the department's decade-long strategic planning efforts, which have helped focus research needs on the most pressing issues related to rangeland conservation and use.

Whitson said that his experience in expanding the department's research capabilities should help him work to "focus the agency's research programs to meet the needs of our constituencies."

Whitson, 61, grew up in the Panhandle town of Spearman, earned two degrees from Texas Tech University and completed his doctorate in agricultural economics at Texas A&M in 1974.

He taught agricultural economics and range science at Texas A&M from 1974 to 1981, then worked for 12 years in the trust division of Frost National Bank in San Antonio, where he rose to the rank of senior vice president.

Whitson returned to Texas A&M in 1993 to head of the rangeland department.

He and his wife, Linda, reside in College Station, and have two daughters, Cristie and Susan, who are married and live in San Antonio.

Writer: Dave Mayes, (979) 845-2803; d-mayes@tamu.edu

News release

Other releases from this source

6838

Back to main news page

The news release or news item on this page is copyright © 2003 by the organization where it originated.
The content of the SeedQuest website is copyright © 1992-2003 by
SeedQuest - All rights reserved
Fair Use Notice