Soil scientist named dean of UGA Ag College

Jay Scott Angle

Jay Scott Angle, an internationally known soil scientist who holds the number-two position in the University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station has been chosen to be dean and director of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Angle will take the UGA post Aug. 15, pending approval by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents. His appointment was announced June 3 by Arnett C. Mace Jr., UGA's senior vice president for academic affairs and provost.

Angle will fill the position left vacant when Gale A. Buchanan stepped down as dean and director last Dec. 31 and retired from UGA on April 30. Josef Broder has served as interim dean and director since Jan. 1.

A widely published researcher in the field of soil microbiology and biochemistry, he is an authority on phytoremediation (the use of plants to remove metals from soil), the use of sewage sludge to spur crop growth, and the risks of genetically engineered organisms in agriculture.

UGA President Michael F. Adams said Angle "brings a 21st century view of agricultural and environmental sciences that will help project our already-strong college into the upper echelon in the country.

"I believe he will bring an increased emphasis on research, food processing and environmental concerns while maintaining UGA's historic commitment to extension outreach and Georgia's all-important agriculture industry," Adams said.

Angle earned his bachelor's degree in agronomy and master's in soil microbiology at the University of Maryland and has spent his entire professional career there except for three years when he worked on his doctorate in soil microbiology and biochemistry at the University of Missouri.

He joined Maryland’s agronomy faculty in 1981 and devoted much of the next 13 years to research and teaching. In 1994 he moved into administration as associate director of the Agricultural Experiment Station and associate dean of the college, and in 2003 became interim executive associate dean for the experiment station and Maryland Cooperative Extension.

"The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences is one of the prestigious programs in the U.S. and one that has remained true to its land grant mission," said Angle. "I look forward to working with the faculty, staff and students, and all citizens of the state of Georgia, as we move the college forward."

One of Angle's priorities at Maryland has been strengthening research in the college and experiment station. Competitive funding for faculty research has more than doubled since he assumed administrative duties. He also developed a Web-based system for collecting, organizing and reporting research impacts. He has also been instrumental in helping the college get new buildings and facilities on and off campus.

Angle's research has been aimed largely at finding ways to improve the quality of soil. n the 1980s, he conducted research on no-till cultivation procedures and demonstrated that this type of cultivation reduces loss of soil nutrients through water runoff. He has studied use of sewage sludge to improve crop growth and has found that - contrary to some reports - sludge does not deter the process of nitrogen fixation in soil and, in fact, can help improve soybean yields. He has also demonstrated that aflatoxin in soil actually decomposes rapidly and is not a water pollutant as some studies have suggested.