The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents on Jan. 19 approved three leadership appointments in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.
In a special telephonic meeting, the regents approved:
- Mark A. Hussey, Ph.D., as interim vice chancellor and dean for agriculture and life sciences.
- Cliff Lamb, Ph.D., as interim director and sole finalist for director of AgriLife Research.
- Rick Avery, Ph.D., as interim director and sole finalist for director of AgriLife Extension.
Chancellor John Sharp designated the three leaders last month after it was announced that Vice Chancellor and Dean Patrick Stover, Ph.D., who also served as director of AgriLife Research, would step down Dec. 31 to focus on his duties as director of the Institute for Advancing Health Through Agriculture.
About Mark A. Hussey
Prior to returning to Texas A&M University, Hussey served as president of Texas A&M University-Kingsville, vice chancellor and dean for agriculture and life sciences at Texas A&M AgriLife, interim president of Texas A&M University and director of AgriLife Research.
Hussey is a native of southern Illinois, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Illinois. He continued his education at Texas A&M, where he earned a master’s and a doctorate in plant breeding.
About Cliff Lamb
Lamb has served as the head of the Department of Animal Science in the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences since 2017. Under his leadership, the department has dramatically increased its research portfolio. Lamb also has been successful in securing philanthropic funds to support animal science priorities.
Formerly, he served as the assistant director and professor at the University of Florida-North Florida Research and Education Center in Marianna, Florida.
Lamb grew up on a cattle operation in Zimbabwe. He earned a bachelor’s degree in animal science at Middle Tennessee State University followed by a master’s degree and a doctorate in reproductive physiology at Kansas State University.
About Rick Avery
Avery has an extensive background in both government relations and in government. Avery’s Capitol Hill experience includes serving as an assistant to U.S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen and U.S. Rep. Greg Laughlin. Avery’s career also includes serving as county relations officer for the Texas Association of Counties, where he worked with elected and appointed county officials in all 254 Texas counties, providing support, continuing education and resource guidance to government operations. Most recently, he served as deputy director of the Brazos Valley Council of Governments.
At Texas A&M AgriLife, Avery previously served as the V.G. Young Institute director and Extension specialist to provide continuing education to approximately 1,500 county officials annually through Institute schools.
Avery earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science from Austin College and Texas A&M University, respectively. He earned a doctorate in educational administration from Texas A&M.
About The Texas A&M University System
The Texas A&M University System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the nation, with a budget of $9.6 billion. Through a statewide network of 11 universities, a comprehensive health science center, eight state agencies, and the RELLIS Campus, the Texas A&M System educates more than 153,000 students and makes more than 22 million additional educational contacts through service and outreach programs each year. System-wide, research and development expenditures exceed $1 billion and help drive the state’s economy.
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