AMES, Iowa -- Cathann Arceneaux Kress, Iowa State University vice president for extension and outreach, has accepted a position at The Ohio State University effective May 1.
Senior Vice President and Provost Jonathan Wickert will be naming an interim vice president for extension and outreach.
The following announcement is courtesy of The Ohio State University.
Leadership Announcement
From Bruce A. McPheron, Executive Vice President and Provost, Office of Academic Affairs, The Ohio State University, provost@osu.edu
With great pleasure, I write to advise you that we have recommended the appointment of Cathann Arceneaux Kress, PhD, currently vice president for extension and outreach and director of cooperative extension, Iowa State University, as vice president for agricultural administration and dean of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. Subject to approval by the Board of Trustees, Dr. Kress will begin her appointment on May 1, 2017.
In her current role, Dr. Kress leads the land-grant mission of teaching, research and service for the public good at Iowa State. This $100 million operation connects the full assets of the university with all of Iowa. Her success in using university-wide outreach programs to enhance education and innovation in Iowa communities have aligned with her key responsibility to advise the president and provost on extension and outreach issues.
Dr. Kress has taught undergraduate and graduate students at all levels. In addition, her research and applied research efforts have focused on impacts on rural populations. For example, her work has included the impacts of multiple deployments on dependent children of Reserve and Guard, programs to assist disadvantaged children, youth and families and on achievement gaps that impact rural youth.
Prior to her leadership at Iowa State University, Dr. Kress served as a senior policy analyst of Military Community and Family Policy at the Department of Defense in Washington, D.C. In addition, she has served as director of youth development at the National 4-H Headquarters, USDA, also in Washington, D.C., and as assistant director, Cornell Cooperative Extension and State Program Leader at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
Among her many national leadership roles, she currently serves as a trustee of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation Board in Battle Creek, Michigan; secretary and incoming chair, Administrative Heads Section, Board on Agriculture Assembly, Association of Public Land Grant Universities; and as a National 4-H Council trustee.
Dr. Kress earned a BS in social work at Iowa State University, and an MA in counselor education/college student development and a PhD education from the University of Iowa.
Please join me in thanking the search committee chair, Dean Karla Zadnik, College of Optometry, and other committee members for their diligent work during the past several months. I look forward to working with Cathann as we move forward with an ambitious agenda for our college and university. Please join me in congratulating Cathann and welcoming her to Ohio State.