Agricultural Experiment Station director selected as interim dean for Bumpers College.
The director of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station will become interim dean of the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences on July 1.
Jean-Fran?ois Meullenet, a longtime University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture professor and administrator, will become the interim dean of Bumpers College when its current dean, Deacue Fields, assumes his new role as vice president for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
“We’re thankful to have someone with Meullenet’s experience in research, teaching and administrative leadership to fill this important role for the Bumpers College,” said Terry Martin, interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. “His understanding of the impact of our academic mission, agricultural research and service to the state will help ensure a smooth transition.”
Meullenet will continue to serve as senior associate vice president for agriculture research, and director of the Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the Division of Agriculture.
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Meullenet also previously served as an interim assistant director of the experiment station, head of the Department of Food Science and director of the Institute of Food Science and Engineering. He joined the Division of Agriculture as assistant professor of food science in 1996.
Jean-Fran?ois Meullenet (U of A System Division of Agriculture).
“Dr. Meullenet has vast administrative experience both within Bumpers College and as the director of the Agricultural Experiment Station,” said Chuck Culver, interim vice president for the UA System Division of Agriculture. “He will do a masterful job of shepherding the important interrelationship between the two.”
Culver also serves as the division’s assistant vice president and director for external relations.
“Dr. Meullenet is the ideal fit for interim dean at this time as we will be able to maintain the momentum we have gained to strengthen the relationship between the University of Arkansas and the UA System Division of Agriculture,” said Fields. “He brings a strong understanding and appreciation for both academic and research programs on campus and within the Division of Agriculture.”
Duties of interim dean
As the interim dean, Meullenet will handle all the daily functions of the dean’s position. Nathan Slaton, who will be elevated to senior associate director, will assist in managing the experiment station. Slaton has served as associate vice president for agriculture and assistant director of the experiment station.
Mary Savin, professor of microbial ecology in Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences, will serve as assistant experiment station director to assist with special initiatives.
“I am delighted to have been called to lead Bumpers College as its interim dean,” Meullenet said. “The college has been on a very positive trajectory under Dean Fields’ leadership, and I plan to ensure that continues in this interim period. I am thankful to Provost Martin for the confidence he has placed in me and to UADA’s interim vice president Chuck Culver and soon-to-be Vice President Fields for valuing the partnership between the division and Bumpers College.”
A native of France, Meullenet earned a Master of Science in food engineering from the National Superior School of Agronomy and Food Science in Nancy, France, and a doctorate in food science and technology from the University of Georgia. He has published 117 articles in refereed journals and has made more than 150 presentations and advised numerous masters and doctoral students.
Since 2006, Meullenet has held the Tyson Foods Endowed Distinguished Professorship in Sensory Science and is a 2013 graduate of LEAD21, a national leadership program.
