Ronald Del Vecchio
UMC Names Del Vecchio Department Head for Agriculture
University of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC) officials have selected Ronald Del Vecchio, Ph.D. and professor of animal science, to serve as department head for the UMC Agriculture Department.
Del Vecchio holds a Ph.D. in animal science - reproduction physiology from Texas A & M University in College Station, TX. He also holds a master’s degree in animal science - reproduction physiology from Texas A & M University and a bachelor’s degree in animal and veterinary science from the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, RI.
Del Vecchio has served as a member of the faculty at UMC since 2003. His research and teaching interests are in the areas of reproductive and production management of livestock species. Teaching responsibilities at UMC include courses in animal anatomy and physiology, reproductive physiology and animal science seminar. He has also played a pivotal role in expanding UMC’s equine industries management program to include curriculum in equine reproduction and breeding.
Del Vecchio has published nearly 200 documents including research manuscripts, articles, abstracts, reports and technology transfer documents in various national and international publications. Topics have ranged from reproductive management of cattle and the relationship between body condition score and ultrasonic back fat measurements in mares to the cellular mechanisms governing reproductive cyclicity.
In addition, Del Vecchio has served as an editorial board member for the Journal of Animal Science and as president of the Canada West Society for Reproductive Biology. He has been an active member of the American Society of Animal Science since 1993 and currently serves on the organization’s Education Awards Committee. He was the recipient of the Floyd S. Edmiston Award for outstanding educational programming from the Louisiana State University Alumni Association. His previous work experience includes research scientist and research program leader positions with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada as well as professor in the Department of Animal Science at Louisiana State University.
“Professor Del Vecchio’s current work at UMC and his past research and teaching exemplify a high standard faculty can achieve within their discipline,” said UMC Chancellor Velmer S. Burton, Jr. “Such dedication certainly comes through to students, and service to students is another important aspect of an education from UMC.”
The announcement of department heads at UMC caps a six-month discussion of academic restructuring for the campus. The goal of the process, according to Chancellor Burton, was to take the current academic administrative structure and align it more closely to the kinds of structures one would see at other four-year colleges. Burton says the resulting structure at UMC more closely matches the one in place in departments at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus.
Administrative and budget efficiencies will also be gained as five new departments and department heads consolidate administrative responsibilities from UMC’s current structure of three center directors managing nineteen program managers, each with varying degrees of administrative responsibility.
The five departments making up UMC’s new academic structure include the Agriculture Department; the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Department; the Business Department; the Math, Science and Technology Department; and the Natural Resources Department. David DeMuth, Jr., Ph.D. and associate professor of physics and math, was recently selected to serve as department head for the Math, Science and Technology Department. The names of the other newly-appointed department heads will be announced subsequently.
Each department head in the new structure will hold faculty rank and will be expected to continue teaching and research activities, while functioning as the administrator of a department. Primary administrative responsibilities include promoting a high-quality learning environment for students; providing leadership in curriculum development, faculty recruitment, faculty development, and research; communicating and implementing policy; formulating annual department goals, objectives, and plans; and planning, prioritizing, and managing budgets.
UMC’s Agriculture Department will include the following degree programs: agricultural aviation, agricultural business, agricultural education, agricultural systems management (including emphases in farm and ranch management, power and machinery, and precision agriculture), agronomy, animal industries management, and equine industries management. Campus officials also have plans to develop a new degree program in food safety, which would be administered through the department.
Posted 05/10/2004
Contact: Andrew Svec,
218-281-8435