COLLEGE STATION - Dr. Tat Smith, professor and head of the department of forest science at Texas A&M University, will become dean of faculty of forestry at the University of Toronto as of July 1.
“Dr. Smith has provided tremendous leadership to our forestry sciences department for the past six years,” said Dr. Elsa Murano, Texas A&M University System vice chancellor and dean of agriculture and life sciences. “He will be sorely missed. The position he has accepted is a wonderful opportunity for him and a testament to his abilities as a great leader.”
Murano said a committee will be appointed soon to conduct a national search for his replacement. An interim department head will be appointed while the search takes place.
Smith came to Texas A&M in January 1999 vowing that sustainability for tree growers and in urban areas would remain a major direction for research and educational programs in the state.
After obtaining his bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Virginia in 1972, a master’s degree in forestry from University of Vermont in 1978, and a doctorate in forestry from the University of Maine in 1984, Smith spent seven years in New Zealand. While there, he served as project leader for sustainability and environmental research and manager of the Forest Research Institute’s South Island Operations.
He is a Fellow in the Society of American Foresters and a member of the Forest Research Advisory Council of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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