Elsa Murano and John Owens have been named candidates for the top agricultural position in the Texas A&M University System.
The Board of Regents will make the final decision based on recommendations from the search committee before the 2005 spring semester. The recommendations will determine if the titles of vice chancellor and dean of agriculture and life sciences, and director of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station will be given to Owens or to Murano, or perhaps another unnamed individual.
"We will keep the door open (for candidates) for a few more weeks," Kem Bennett, chair of the Agricultural Dean Search Committee, said. "One of the things we're looking for is leadership. This person will have a
very important role in Texas agriculture and policy. Both of these individuals bring strong leadership and one of the things I like is they have differing backgrounds."
Appointed by President Bush in 2001, Murano is currently working as the undersecretary for food safety for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Owens is the vice president at the University of Nebraska and the vice chancellor of Neal and Leone Harlan.
Murano was formerly a professor at A&M in the Department of Animal Science. She joined the faculty in 1995 and served as the director of the Texas A&M Institute for Food Science and Engineering-Center for Food Safety from 1997-2001.
"(Murano) has been a brilliant researcher," Bennett said. "She has been working on the cutting edge of research in food safety and health. She was tapped to go to Washington and has been managing a wealth of people."
Prior to her work at A&M, Murano was an assistant professor at Iowa State University. She graduated from Florida International University in 1981 with a degree in biological sciences. She later obtained a master's degree in anaerobic microbiology and a doctorate in food science and technology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute.
Owens has served as executive vice president and chief academic officer emeritus at New Mexico State University. He began in 1977 as an associate professor and was promoted to professor, and then head of the department of entomology. Owens was later named dean and chief administrative officer for the College of Agriculture and Home Economics, New Mexico Agricultural Experiment Station and New Mexico Cooperative Extension Service.
Owens was also an assistant professor of entomology at Iowa State University from 1971-75 and associate professor of entomology at Texas Tech University from 1975-76. Following his work at Texas Tech, Owens was an entomologist for Pioneer Hi-Bred International from 1976-77.
"(Owens) has an outstanding record," Bennett said. "Obviously coming to A&M is a huge step but he is someone who really knows the broad spectrum of what the job is about."
Owens holds a bachelor's degree in biology from West Texas A&M University, a master's in entomology from Texas Tech in 1969 and a doctorate in entomology from Iowa State University in 1971.
Despite Murano's prestige, Owens benefits because his current position at the University of Nebraska is similar to the opening at A&M, said Clarence Creger, associate vice chancellor and associate dean of the College of Agriculture and a member of the search committee.
Ed Hiler will retire from vice chancellor and dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and director of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station on Aug. 31. He has been at A&M since 1966 and served in that position 1992, said Tammy Landry, Hiler's assistant.
"Either of these two individuals could lead this program. It's not a question of which is best; it's a question of which fits best," Bennett said.
"I like that we don't have a cookie cutter situation. Both of these candidates serve up a little different menu."
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