Dr. Steven Leath was named Vice President for Research in July 2007. He was the former Associate Dean for Research and Director of the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service at North Carolina State University. As Vice President, Dr. Leath promotes research and sponsored programs across the full spectrum of academic disciplines and interdisciplinary activities carried out by the University of North Carolina’s (UNC) sixteen university campuses. He helps advocate for increased levels of external support from federal, state, and private sources, and works closely with the senior vice president for academic affairs and campus research administrators to develop research and sponsored program activity in support of the mission of each campus. Each year, UNC campuses attract more than $1 billion in competitive research grants and contracts — mostly from the federal government. Dr. Leath holds a BS in plant science from Pennsylvania State University, a master’s degree in plant science from the University of Delaware, and a doctorate in plant pathology from the University of Illinois. He first joined the faculty of NC State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 1985 as a plant pathologist with the US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service unit based on the NC State campus. He was named research leader of the unit in 1998, shortly before beginning a stint as the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s acting national program leader for grain crops. Dr. Leath returned to NC State in 2001 as a Professor and Assistant Director of the NC Agricultural Research Service. Shortly after being promoted to Associate Director of the Research Service in 2003, he was named Interim Director and Interim Associate Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He assumed both positions on a permanent basis in 2005. Dr. Leath also has served concurrently as Interim Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research, overseeing NC State’s participation in the development of the North Carolina Research Campus at Kannapolis. During his research career, Dr. Leath published numerous scientific articles in plant disease resistance, plant breeding, and related fields. He is married to Janet A. Leath, a State Farm Agent in Garner, NC and they have two sons. Eric is a student at NC State and Scott attends Southeast Raleigh High School. < TOP > |
Board of Directors
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