Farm Progress

The University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences names its first female dean in Kidwell, an accomplished plant breeder and Danville native.

November 4, 2016

3 Min Read

The University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences is operating under the leadership of a new dean, Dr. Kimberlee Kidwell. Kidwell, a Danville native and respected plant breeding scholar, returns to Illinois from Washington State University, where she was both a respected scholar and award-winning teacher and administrator.

In her new position, Kidwell will hold the inaugural Robert A. Easter Chair.

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“It’s important to me to land on a common purpose with the ACES community so we can clearly articulate what we do and why it matters to people,” Kidwell says. Her emphasis on communication goes back to her early college days, when she initially majored in communications — with the goal of being the first female announcer for Monday Night Football.

Instead of communications, Kidwell obtained bachelor’s degrees in genetics and development and agriculture science from the U of I College of ACES, and went on to obtain her master’s and Ph.D. degrees in plant breeding and plant genetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

She’s an accomplished wheat breeder and geneticist with multiple patented discoveries addressing basic questions involving gene discovery, genetic characterization and genetic mapping of important traits for wheat improvement. She's also released more than 20 wheat varieties for commercial production.

“I am land-grant­-loyal to the core,” Kidwell explains. “ACES research translates directly to improving the quality of people's lives. We also are teaching the next generation of change agents in our disciplines by integrating transformational learning opportunities into their academic experiences.”

“Dean Kidwell’s combination of scholarly success, teaching excellence and academic leadership made her the clear top candidate in a very competitive national search. She will be a strong leader for the college and will help move the university forward, as well. I am delighted to welcome her to our Illinois leadership team,” said Ed Feser, interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Kidwell’s leadership style is defined by her dedication to improving student learning; driving sound, innovative research; and cultivating industry partnerships to improve the lives and livelihoods of the residents of Illinois, in support of the land-grant mission of the University of Illinois.

In her previous role as executive associate dean of the College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences at Washington State University, Kidwell spearheaded the development of the new Center for Transformational Learning and Leadership, a student, faculty, alumni and industry partner collaboration that provides beyond-the-classroom experiences for students and leadership development for graduate students, faculty, staff and professionals.

“Students are the lifeblood of the college,” Kidwell says. “Everything we do should fuel the student learning experience, be it in classrooms, research laboratories, communities or industry experiences. Faculty and staff are the heartbeat of the institution. Everything that happens in the college sources from the efforts of these hardworking, dedicated people.”

Kidwell succeeds ACES Dean Robert Hauser, who has served in that role since 2010.  

“It is surreal to have an opportunity to co-create the next era of excellence in the college with the ACES community at my alma mater,” says Kidwell. “It is a privilege to be able to create opportunities of a lifetime for people at the university that provided those types of opportunities for me.” 

The College of ACES will share more on Kidwell through its social media outlets; follow along at #MeetDeanKidwell.

Source: University of Illinois

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