UMN food-ag-natural-resources dean to step down

I don't often post on the comings and goings of deans, but since it's the U and it's ag, I will.

(One might also remember Allen Levine's statement to MPR's Stephanie Hemphill during the "Troubled Waters" agricultural documentary flap.)

Here's the U's press release:

University of Minnesota CFANS dean will step down in August

Allen S. Levine, dean of the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS) at the University of Minnesota, today announced his plans to step down at the end of August from his position as dean of the college and director of the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station. He will return to the faculty and assume new academic responsibilities.

An interim dean and director will be named soon; a nationwide search for the permanent position will be launched later this summer.

Levine, 63, has been dean of CFANS since the college was created via a merger of two colleges and a department in 2006.  He is a professor in the departments of food science and nutrition, psychiatry, surgery, and medicine, and is a member of the graduate faculties in nutrition, food science and neuroscience.

“I’m very proud of the work we’ve done in CFANS over the past seven years,” Levine said. “It’s time for me to take advantage of new opportunities, and I feel confident that the college will continue to grow and thrive.”

“I want to thank Dean Levine for his exceptional leadership and service as the inaugural dean of CFANS, said Karen Hanson, University of Minnesota Provost and senior vice president for academic affairs.  “He has led the merged college through a period of remarkable transformation and achievement. Under his leadership, the goals of the college’s strategic plan have been accomplished, including improving efficiency and enhancing collaborations across departments and centers. The college stands as one of the premier research and educational centers in the world dedicated to renewable resources, food systems, and environmental research.”

Levine will continue to serve as director of the Minnesota Obesity Center, a National Institutes of Health collaborative research group of more than 70 federally funded investigators from the university, the Mayo Clinic, the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, Health Partners, and Hennepin County Medical Center. His research focus for the past 30 years has been on neural regulation of food intake. After he leaves CFANS, he will serve as a liaison on academic initiatives that involve collaboration between the provost’s office and other units across the university, including interdisciplinary studies, educational technologies and budget modeling.

Prior to serving as CFANS dean, he served as head of the Department of Food Science and Nutrition; he also served as associate director of research and as senior career scientist at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center. He began his career at the University of Minnesota in 1981, as an assistant professor in food science and nutrition. He serves on a variety of editorial boards and national organizations and has published more than 295 scientific papers and 100 review articles, editorials, and book reviews.

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