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Contact: Sasha Steinberg
Ashli Brown (Photo by Beth Wynn)
STARKVILLE, Miss.-Ashli Brown has been named vice president of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Veterinary Medicine of Mississippi State University.
Brown will take up her new role on July 16 and will help build MSU’s national reputation as a leader in agriculture and natural resources in teaching, research and services. The National Science Foundation places MSU in the top 5 percent nationally in agricultural research.
Brown has served as the Mississippi State Chemist since 2013 and as the interim director of the Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion at MSU since January 2021. She is also a professor at the Institute of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology and Plant Pathology.
Much of Brown’s research focuses on using analytical techniques to improve conservation efforts, food safety, and regulatory science. During her tenure at MSU, she received over $ 10 million in federal, state, and industrial funding to build and support a research group and fund the Mississippi State Chemical Laboratory’s mission.
Keith Coble, vice president of the university’s agriculture, forestry and veterinary medicine department, said Brown is respected as “an exceptional scientist who works well with people at the university and with our customers.”
“I think Dr. Brown is a leader who can help lead the department to greater success and service for years to come, ”said Coble, a William L. Giles Distinguished Professor.
DAFVM units include the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Forest Resources, the College of Veterinary Medicine, the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, the Forest and Wildlife Research Center, and the MSU Extension Service. These six units operate on the main university campus and through four research and expansion centers, 16 branch stations and sites, and MSU expansion offices in all 82 Mississippi counties.
Brown has a bachelor’s degree in biology and a Ph.D. in chemistry / biochemistry from the University of South Florida, where she was a postdoctoral fellow in biochemistry. She also did a postdoc work in chemistry / entomology at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service site in Stoneville.
Darrell Sparks will serve as the interim state chemist and director of the Mississippi State Chemical Laboratory until confirmed by the Mississippi Senate and after Brown’s move to the position of vice president. Sparks is currently an Associate State Chemist and Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology, and Plant Pathology.
For more information on the Department of Agricultural, Forest and Veterinary Medicine at MSU, please visit www.dafvm.msstate.edu; the Mississippi State Chemical Laboratory, www.mscl.msstate.edu.
MSU is the premier university in Mississippi, available online at www.msstate.edu.
