MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Names Director of Diversity
MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Names Director of Diversity
10/26/07
Contact: Francie Todd
517-432-1555, ext. 168
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Brenda Alston-Mills, assistant dean of diversity and professor of animal science in the North Carolina State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has been named associate dean and director of the Office of Organization and Professional Development for Diversity and Pluralism within the Michigan State University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR). Her appointment will begin January 1, 2008, pending MSU Board of Trustees approval.
At MSU, Alston-Mills will lead recruitment and retention efforts designed to achieve a more diverse graduate student body, faculty and staff within the CANR, MSU Extension and the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station. She will promote multicultural values and practices through professional and unit-level organizational development and serve as a liaison between the CANR and the MSU Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives.
“We are delighted that Dr. Alston-Mills has chosen to come to Michigan State,” said Jeffrey Armstrong, dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. “Her appointment will help move us forward in our commitment to diversity -- a commitment that ensures our programs appropriately reflect society, enriches our academic experience for all students, and cultivates a learning culture that embraces pluralism in its broadest and most inclusive sense.”
At NC State, Alston-Mills has provided both college and campuswide leadership in the development of programs to promote and enhance diversity among faculty and staff members and students. She has developed innovative programs to increase recruitment, retention and graduation rates among African American and underrepresented students and conducts a comprehensive series of faculty and staff development workshops. Her office also supports student groups that promote academic and professional advancement of minority students, including the American Indians Science and Engineering Society and Minorities in Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Alston-Mills has been a member of the NC State Department of Animal Science faculty since 1990 with a one-year hiatus (2002-03), during which she was a visiting professor of pathology and laboratory science at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. She previously held faculty posts in animal science at the University of Maryland, College Park, and in job training and career planning at Camden County College, Camden, N.J.
Alston-Mills received a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pa., and both a master’s degree and doctorate in zoology with an emphasis in endocrinology from Michigan State University. She is a member of numerous professional societies, including the American Dairy Science Association, the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the Sigma Xi scientific research society, the Gamma Sigma Delta agricultural fraternity and Omicron Delta Kappa, a national leadership honor society. She has published and presented her work on animal endocrinology in a variety of publications and has received many awards for teaching excellence at the university level. Her accolades include the 2005 National Role Models Faculty Mentor Award from Minority Access, Inc., the 2006 North Carolina State Student Diversity Council Award and the 2007 Award of Honor from the Alumnae Association of the Philadelphia High School for Girls. In 2001, she was the Lycoming College convocation speaker and recipient of the college’s Outstanding Alumnae Achievement Award. She is a member of the Lycoming board of trustees and chairs its academic policies committee.
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