Texas A&M hires new leader of agriculture college, agencies

Contact: Laylan Copelin, 979-458-6425, [email protected] 

COLLEGE STATION — The Board of Regents of The Texas A&M University System unanimously voted Thursday to hire a nationally recognized leader in nutritional science and a member of the National Academy of Sciences to lead Texas A&M University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the System’s agriculture agencies.

As the incoming vice chancellor and dean for agriculture and life sciences, Dr. Patrick J. Stover will be well positioned to better align research and extension efforts related to agriculture and human health. Stover, who comes to Texas A&M from Cornell University, also will be able to help farmers and ranchers improve efficiencies, profits and yields through applied science and advanced research, said Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp.

“I believe Dr. Stover will revolutionize the relationship between food producers and nutrition in a way that is highly beneficial to agriculture, the food industry and consumers,” Sharp said.

“This is a great day for Texas A&M as we add yet another national leader of prominence to the executive team of the flagship,” Texas A&M University President Michael K. Young said. “Dr. Stover’s proven leadership at Cornell will complement the scholarship of our faculty who are already serving the state of Texas and the world in their research in meaningful ways with their research every day.”

Stover said for it is a privilege to join the Texas A&M faculty and work with Sharp, Young, Provost Carol Fierke and the faculty and staff.
“The outstanding senior leadership team assembled and led by Chancellor Sharp – combined with the commitment of Texas to higher education and with the service commitment of the Texas A&M System – gives us the unprecedented opportunity to solve the most challenging problems facing agriculture, food, the environment and our Texas communities,” Stover said. “I look forward to extending the reach of our teaching, research, service and extension programs to support our shared values.”

Further, Stover said he is eager to help realize Chancellor Sharp’s vision for a statewide “Healthy Texas” program that will serve as a model for our country.

“We can leverage the strength of Texas agriculture with our commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of Texas communities through our agencies and college faculty,” Stover added.

Stover begins March 1.

Stover has been a professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York and the director of the Ivy League university’s Division of Nutritional Sciences, which is jointly administered by the College of Human Ecology and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He graduated from Saint Joseph’s University with a bachelor of science degree in chemistry. He earned a doctorate degree in biochemistry and molecular biophysics from the Medical College of Virginia and performed his postdoctoral studies in nutritional sciences at the University of California at Berkeley.

Stover led a research group that investigates the mechanisms underlying the relationships among nutrition, metabolism and risk for birth defects, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.

Stover is married to Denise Stover, and they have have four adult children, all of whom are either attending or have graduated from Cornell.

A runner of half-marathons and a woodworking enthusiast, Stover said he is excited to make Aggieland his new home and for the chance to see world-class Texas A&M athletes in action.

Members of the Cornell University community praised Stover’s accomplishments during his tenure there.

“Patrick has been a transformative leader of the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell, hiring world-class faculty, developing innovative education programs, and establishing impactful global research and education collaborations,” Dr. Alan D. Mathios, the Rebecca Q. and James C. Morgan Dean of the College of Human Ecology at Cornell, said. “He has secured the division as one of the leading nutrition programs in the world.”

“Cornell CALS has been fortunate to benefit from Patrick’s outstanding accomplishments, both as a faculty researcher and as the leader of the Division of Nutritional Sciences,” said Kathryn J. Boor, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell. “As director of the division, Patrick has supported broad collaboration and elevated the life-changing research, teaching and outreach that are core to the division’s mission as well as to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.”