A tradition of excellence
Colorado State University graduates have become leaders in government, private industry and academia. Faculty members from CSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences produce innovations and breakthroughs that have made food safer and more plentiful, and the communities in which we live and work more beautiful and sustainable. As both an alumnus and a former faculty member, Ronnie Green has carried on CSU’s tradition of excellence in his time as an industry innovator and as part of the administration of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Recognizing both his outstanding leadership and vision, Green has been named the next chancellor of UNL.
Green received his MS in Animal Sciences from CSU in 1985 and served as both an associate professor and professor in the CSU Department of Animal Sciences from 1994-2000. At UNL, Green has served as the University of Nebraska’s vice president for agriculture and natural resources (system), the Harlan Vice Chancellor of the UNL Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and UNL interim senior vice chancellor for academic affairs.
Mission of the land-grant university
“Dr. Green’s strength has always been that he understands the people that make science and agriculture happen,” said Milt Thomas, Rouse Ranch Chair in CSU’s Department of Animal Sciences, who has worked with Green over the last 20 years. “He has been tremendously successful at finding the balance between the farm in rural Nebraska and missions of the land grant university system.”
Keith Belk, the Ken & Myra Monfort Endowed Chair in CSU’s Department of Animal Sciences, was both Green’s roommate in graduate school and colleague in the department. “Dr. Green has developed an impressive administrative track record serving with the USDA-ARS program to sequence the bovine genome–a global project–as well as in his vice chancellor role at the University of Nebraska,” said Belk. “There is no doubt that he has been instrumental in growing very entrepreneurial programs in agriculture and food production.”
Reporting to the NU president, the UNL chancellor is the chief executive officer for the campus, which serves more than 25,000 students in nine academic colleges, employs more than 6,400 faculty and staff, has an operating budget of more than $1.2 billion and research expenditures of more than $275 million, and includes a nationally prominent Division I athletics program. Green’s appointment is subject to approval by the Board of Regents by its May 25 meeting.
Wonderful tribute
“All of us at Colorado State University are proud to offer congratulations to Dr. Green on his appointment,” said CSU President Tony Frank. “It’s a wonderful tribute to him and to our Animal Sciences faculty, and I look forward to working with him in his new role.”
Green was raised on a mixed livestock and cropping farm. In addition to have held leadership positions at the USDA and Pfizer Animal Genetics (now Zoetis), he is a Fellow of the American Society of Animal Science and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Green’s research expertise is in the area of animal genetics, and his work has been published in Science, the Journal of Animal Science, and the International Journal of Biological Sciences.
