Following an extensive national search, the College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University has selected Dr. Shawn Donkin to serve as its new Associate Dean for Research (ADR) starting September 1.
Donkin joins the college from Purdue University where he served as the Associate Director of the Agricultural Research Experiment Station and Assistant Dean of Research and Graduate Education for nearly a decade. He also served as interim Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education from 2017-2019 during the search to fill that role permanently and has been a professor of Animal Sciences for more than 25 years.
“We are thrilled to have Dr. Donkin join us and bring his deep experience in building institutional and enterprise research efforts to the college,” said Alan Sams, Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences. “His passion for the land-grant mission, his commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, and his proven commitment to empowering faculty and graduate students to advance research to solve some of society’s biggest problems will add to our ongoing pursuit as a college to make tomorrow better.”
As a member of the senior administrative leadership team, Donkin will provide strategic direction to advance the college’s research mission. Some of his leadership responsibilities will include research development, faculty support, expansion of international research, corporate relations and commercialization, graduate student development as well as service to relevant state, regional and national advisory committees.
“I am excited to join the leadership team at Oregon State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences,” Donkin said. “The breadth of agriculture in Oregon is tremendous which brings both challenges and opportunities to find solutions for pressing problems that have global impact. I am eager to join that effort and be a part of advancing Oregon’s leadership role in research.”
While at Purdue, Donkin led the research section of the College of Agriculture 2021-2026 strategic plan, provided oversight for capital projects supporting research and teaching programs, advanced the institution’s international research presence, and developed corporate and commercial supported research programs. Firmly committed to advancing diversity and equity in graduate education, he also established a program at Purdue to expand access to opportunity for underrepresented communities through recurring funding for graduate stipends.
With a Ph.D. in Dairy Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Donkin brings more than 30 years of research and teaching experience to the College of Agricultural Sciences. He will fill the role formerly held by Dr. Joyce Loper whose service to Oregon State University spans more than three decades as both a courtesy faculty appointment in the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology while working at USDA-ARS, and as a member of the senior administrative leadership team.