November 13, 2006
Minish elected president of agriculture group
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Gary L. Minish, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, will serve a one-year term as president-elect of the American Association of State Colleges of Agriculture and Renewable Resources.
Minish's election came Oct. 25 during the group's annual meeting in Pomona, Calif. He will ascend to the presidency late next year.
The 33-year-old association, known by its acronym, AASCARR, consists of representatives from some 50 universities that have academic programs in agriculture and renewable resources outside the land-grant system.
As president-elect, Minish and other association board members will work to get a competitive grants program for non-land grant schools included in the next Farm Bill as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's budget. This would allow the universities to apply for federal funds to upgrade facilities and equipment. AASCARR successfully lobbied for inclusion in the 1977 Farm Bill of non-land grant universities as participants in USDA policy planning.
Minish also will continue to serve as association representative to the National Association of State University and Land Grant Colleges.
Minish came out of retirement in 2004 to become SIUC's agriculture dean. During 35 years at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Va., he served in a variety of capacities, from scientist to teacher to administrator.
He earned his bachelor's degree in animal science in 1962 from Iowa State University. He completed a doctorate in animal science in 1966 at Michigan State University.
Enhancing the culture of research and scholarship is among the goals of Southern at 150: Building Excellence Through Commitment, the blueprint the University is following as it approaches its 150th anniversary in 2019.
Gary L. Minish
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