News Release
For Immediate Release — February 17, 2011
Two UT Institute of Agriculture Deans Accepted to Leadership Institute
Dr. Caula Beyl (left), dean of the UT College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, and Dr. William Brown, dean for Research and director of the University of Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station (UT AgResearch), have been accepted as members of the newest class for the Food Systems Leadership Institute (FSLI).
Download Beyl's photo; Download Brown's photo
Dr. Caula Beyl, dean of the UT College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, and Dr. William Brown, dean for Research and director of the University of Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station (UT AgResearch), have been accepted as members of the newest class for the Food Systems Leadership Institute (FSLI). The FSLI dedicated to advancing and strengthening food systems by preparing a set of new leaders with the skills and knowledge necessary to invent and reinvent the food systems of the future. It is a two-year program of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), with the initial funding provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
The FSLI is an executive leadership development program for academia, industry, and government that emphasizes the development of leadership competencies, skills for organizational change, and a broad, interdisciplinary perspective of food systems. The FSLI experience prepares scholars for upper-level leadership roles in food system programs and to assume broader leadership responsibilities within their organizations.
During the FSLI program, scholars work with expert instructors, leadership development coaches, and an upper level mentor to help increase their leadership abilities. They meet with leaders of universities, political leaders, industry leaders and others who have advanced to the highest levels of leadership. Leadership theory is combined with practical experience, often in the context of food systems and higher education.
The first year of the program includes intensive executive education-style residential learning sessions at three university locations. Scholars perform assessments to increase their self awareness of their leadership style, and the results are used to develop and implement a personal development plan, prepared with the assistance of a professional coach. North Carolina State University is the host site with The Ohio State University and The University of Vermont being residential sites responsible for implementation of the program. Interactive distance learning is used between residential sessions. During the second year of the program participants apply what they have learned to develop and carry out an Individual Leadership Project.
Dr. Beyl is the first female dean of UT’s College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR). A professor of horticulture, she has received numerous awards for her teaching and research and she has also served in editorial and review capacities for a number of scholarly publications, including the Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science. Prior to her appointment with UT, Beyl served asdirector of Alabama A&M’s Office of Institutional Planning, Research and Evaluation. Beyl holds a Ph.D. in stress physiology and a master’s in horticulture from Purdue University. She earned her bachelor’s of science degree in biology from Florida Atlantic University.
As Dean of UT AgResearch, Dr. Brown oversees the research programs of some 130 faculty in seven academic departments as well as the management of ten research facilities strategically located across the state. Previously he served as Assistant Dean and Assistant Director of the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station. He is a professor of animal science and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska. His master’s and bachelor’s degrees are from the UT and the University of Florida, respectively.
Past fellows of the FSLI from the UT Institute of Agriculture include Dr. Tim Cross, dean of UT Extension, and UT President Joe DiPietro. Dr. DiPietro entered the program while dean of the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine but completed the FSLI while serving as UT Vice President for Agriculture.
Additional information is available at www.fsli.org.
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Contact:
Patricia McDaniels, UTIA Marketing and Communications, 615-835-4570, pmcdaniels@tennessee.edu