KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Dr. Jack Britt, an associate dean at North Carolina State University, is the University of Tennessee’s new vice president for agriculture.
Britt’s appointment as vice president for the Institute of Agriculture was approved Thursday by the UT Board of Trustees on the recommendation of UT President Joe Johnson.
Britt is currently associate dean of the college of veterinary medicine at NCSU and assistant director of the N.C. Agricultural Research Service. He will succeed Dr. D.M. “Pete” Gossett, who is retiring June 30 after 10 years in the position.
The UT Institute of Agriculture includes the college of agriculture, experiment station, and extension service.
Johnson said Britt’s background at N.C. State and, earlier, at Michigan State University, will serve him well at UT.
“I am impressed with Jack Britt’s background and I’m delighted he is coming to UT,” Johnson said. “We look forward to welcoming Jack and his wife, Frances, into the University family.”
Britt said he and his wife, Frances, were excited by the opportunities they found at UT.
“We were very impressed by the people, by the facilities, and by the support for agriculture out in the state,” said Britt, who is a native of Glasgow, Ky.
“The infrastructure is there and there is a strong base of personnel for building on what is already an excellent program,” Britt said. “We are looking forward to it.”
Britt was one of six candidates selected for Johnson’s consideration by an advisory committee headed by UT Executive Vice President Emerson H. Fly.
Before moving to NCSU’s college of veterinary medicine, Britt was professor of reproductive physiology in the university’s college of agriculture and life sciences.
Britt was on the faculty and interim department head in the department of dairy science at Michigan State.
He earned the bachelor’s degree in agriculture and biology at Western Kentucky University and master’s and doctoral degrees at North Carolina State.
Gossett also earned the doctorate at NCSU and begin his career in agriculture extension service there.
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Contact: Dr. Joe Johnson (423-974-2141)