Robert E. Whitson stepping down as head of agricultural sciences and natural resources

Since joining OSU in May of 2005, Whitson has provided leadership and oversight as dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and as director of the two state agencies administered through the division: the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station and the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service.

“We appreciate the outstanding leadership and service Dr. Whitson has provided to the university and Oklahoma,” said OSU President Burns Hargis. “Our agriculture programs and operations touch students and extend to every county in the state. Bob has overseen strong enrollment growth and his diverse organization has excelled at carrying out OSU’s land-grant mission of teaching, research and extension.”

Under Whitson’s guidance, student enrollment in the college has increased 14 percent in the last three years. CASNR students have earned many of the nation’s most prestigious scholarships and honors, and have held leadership and officer positions in state, regional and national organizations. Approximately 40 percent of the university’s Top 10 Seniors have been CASNR students during his tenure as dean.

“Many of us feel that we’ve been blessed with his leadership and vision over the past seven years,” said Rodd Moesel, owner of American Plant Products and Services and a member of the DASNR Dean’s Advisory Council. “Communication between agricultural organizations and the university has never been stronger; time and again Dr. Whitson and his faculty and staff have demonstrated that our voices are important and are being heard in terms of the division’s teaching, research and extension programs serving Oklahoma.”

Numerous OSU Cooperative Extension programs have been recognized with state, regional, national and international awards during the past seven years. The statewide Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station system accounts for approximately 37 percent of OSU’s research efforts and more than $50 million in annual research expenditures.

A successful administrator in both academia and industry, Oklahoma State University's Robert E. Whitson (above) has experience in all three aspects of the land-grant mission, having started his professional career as a Cooperative Extension area farm and ranch management specialist from 1969-1971. (Photo by Todd Johnson)

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Joe Neal Hampton, president and chief executive officer of the Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association and a member of the DASNR Dean’s Advisory Council, believes the accomplishments of DASNR during Whitson’s tenure represent successes for all of Oklahoma.

“Dr. Whitson has excelled at working with state commodity groups and the legislature to promote greater prosperity for us all,” he said. “Agriculture, as with energy, is a prime driver of the Oklahoma economy. Many of our producers and agribusiness operators rely on the management, crop variety and technological advances developed and promoted by DASNR scientists and Extension educators.”

Oklahoma ranks fourth in the nation in the number of farms, fourth in producing cattle and calves, fourth in wheat production, fourth in sorghum production, fifth in pecan production, eighth in swine production, eighth in hay production and ninth in peanut production.

Whitson was instrumental in the startup and expansion of four division centers as a way to better serve Oklahoma, the region and beyond: the National Institute for Microbial Forensics & Food and Agricultural Biosecurity (Stillwater), the Biobased Products and Energy Center (Stillwater), the Water Research and Extension Center (Stillwater) and the Institute for Agricultural Biosciences (Ardmore).

“Dr. Whitson has been a tremendous asset to the college, division and university, as well as Oklahoma communities and our agriculture and natural resource industries and organizations,” Hampton said. “He is going to be missed, and will be hard to replace. However, we understand his desire to kick back a little and spend more time with his family. Leading DASNR is an intensive undertaking.”

Hargis said a committee will be appointed to conduct a national search for a new DASNR vice president, dean and director.

“We wish him and his wife, Linda, all the best as they make more time for their grandchildren,” he said.

Oklahoma State University's Robert E. Whitson (right), vice president, dean and director of the OSU Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, speaks with KXII-TV about the new $15 million Institute for Agricultural Biosciences in Ardmore. (Photo by Don Stotts)

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Whitson came to OSU from south of the Red River, where he served as associate vice chancellor and associate dean of Texas A&M University Agriculture and Life Sciences and deputy director of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station from August 2003 to May 2005.

He served as head of the Texas A&M University Department of Rangeland Ecology and Management from May 1993 to August 2003. Among his many accomplishments was the establishment of the Center for Grazinglands and Ranch Management, which provides for a coordinated teaching, research and extension effort by the college and Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in working with Texas’s range livestock industry.

Along with his administrative background, Whitson has experience as a rancher and farmer, Texas Cooperative Extension educator and university professor. He spent more than a decade in industry, serving on the leadership team of Frost National Bank, San Antonio, Texas, from November 1981 to April 1993, rising to the rank of senior vice president.

Whitson has received many personal awards and recognitions for professional achievement over the years. In 2011, Texas A&M University inducted him into its department of agricultural economics’ Tyrus R. Timm Honor Registry. His high standards of excellence and leadership in ensuring extension, research and teaching programs provide benefits to all land-grant stakeholders were given as the reasons for his being named to the registry.

In 2006, Whitson was named Outstanding Graduate of Texas Tech University’s College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. He was named Outstanding Alumnus by the Texas Tech University Department of Range, Wildlife and Fisheries Management in 1996.

Whitson earned a Bachelor of Science degree in range management and a Master of Science degree in agricultural economics from Texas Tech in 1965 and 1967, respectively. Whitson earned his doctoral degree in agricultural economics from Texas A&M in 1974.

He is a native of Spearman, Texas, just across the border from Oklahoma in the panhandle region of both states.

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REPORTER/MEDIA CONTACT:
Donald Stotts
Communications Specialist
Agricultural Communications Services
143 Agriculture North
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK 74078
Phone: 405-744-4079
Fax: 405-744-5739
Email: donald.stotts@okstate.edu
DASNR Website: http://www.dasnr.okstate.edu

Oklahoma State University, U. S. Department of Agriculture, State and Local governments cooperating; Oklahoma State University in compliance with Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Executive Order 11246 as amended, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and other federal and state laws and regulations, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, age, religion, disability, or status as a veteran in any of its policies, practices, or procedures, and is an equal opportunity employer.