Wendy Powers of the University of California has been named the next dean of Washington State University’s College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences, according to a news release from WSU.

Elizabeth Chilton, WSU provost and executive vice president, announced Powers’ selection on April 25 following a national search. Powers will join the college, known as CAHNRS, on Aug. 15. Powers replaces Richard André-Denis Wright, dean from 2018 to 2021, and Richard Koenig, interim dean since 2021.

Powers has been the associate vice president for UC Agriculture and Natural Resources since 2016, leading academic, research and outreach programs. She oversaw county-based cooperative extension outreach, 12 statewide programs and institutes, and nine research and extension centers across California.

Powers previously worked as an assistant professor and extension specialist in animal science at Iowa State University, and she was a full professor of animal science and biosystems and agricultural engineering at Michigan State University. At MSU she also served as an extension specialist, director of environmental stewardship and director of the Agriculture and Agribusiness Institute, according to the release.

She holds a doctorate in animal science and a master’s degree in dairy science, both from the University of Florida, and a bachelor’s degree in animal science from Cornell University.

—by Ross Courtney