R. Kirby Barrick named dean of UF/IFAS College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
June 9, 2005
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — An associate dean from the University of Illinois has been selected as dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, or UF/IFAS. His appointment becomes effective Aug. 25, 2005.
R. Kirby Barrick, associate dean for academic programs in the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was named to lead the UF/IFAS college by Jimmy Cheek, UF senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources.
Cheek said Barrick will provide visionary leadership to the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and will significantly advance its strategic goals in the coming years.
“Kirby Barrick is an outstanding teacher and scholar,” Cheek said. “He has an impressive record of leadership in advancing educational and research programs wherever he has served.
“As a department chair at Ohio State University, Dr. Barrick successfully combined agricultural education and communications and rural sociology, restructured the faculty and focused the research agenda,” he said. “As associate dean at Illinois, he made significant improvements to the undergraduate and graduate education programs, including the development of a strategic plan for moving the college forward.”
Barrick has held the associate dean position at the University of Illinois since 1996. He is also a professor of agricultural education in the university’s Department of Human and Community Development.
From 1980 to 1996, Barrick was a faculty member at The Ohio State University, where he was appointed chairman of the Department of Agricultural Education and assistant director of the university’s 4-H youth development program.
Prior to his service at Ohio State, Barrick was director of two major research and development centers funded by the state of Ohio. These centers provided leadership and budget authority for efforts in four departments across three colleges.
Barrick has written 116 journal articles, secured more than $5.8 million in grants and contracts and chaired 20 graduate committees. He received bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in agricultural education from The Ohio State University.
Among his numerous awards, Barrick has received the Ohio State College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award and the Distinguished Educator Award from the National Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture. He has been named a Fellow in the American Association for Agricultural Education.
He is married to Susan Barrick, assistant dean for development and alumni relations at the University of Illinois’ Graduate School of Library and Information Science.