We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Rickey Yada as dean of the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences (ALES) for a five-year term, effective Oct. 1, 2024.
Rickey joins the University of Alberta from the University of British Columbia where he has served as dean of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems since 2014. He has also recently served as the president of the 13-member Deans' Council of Agriculture, Food and Veterinary Medicine Faculties in Canada. Prior to UBC, he served in a number of leadership roles at the University of Guelph including chair of the Department of Food Science, assistant vice president of Research, Canada Research Chair in Food Protein Structure and scientific director of the Advanced Foods and Materials Network (Networks of Centres of Excellence). He is currently the North American editor of Trends in Food Science and Technology and serves on the editorial board of several journals. He has authored more than 250 refereed journal publications as well as numerous books and book chapters.
We are looking forward to Rickey using his wealth of leadership experience to contribute to the U of A.
We are grateful to Dr. Stan Blade for his outstanding leadership and many contributions as dean of ALES for two terms, including raising more than $135 million in advancement contributions and receiving more than $450 million in research funding. For his next adventure, Stan has recently been appointed as Deputy Director General for the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). ICRISAT works in Asia and Africa (as part of a global network of agrifood research centers) to increase food security and improve the lives of the approximately 2.1 billion people who live in the semi-arid tropics. When Stan concludes his term as dean, he will be based at ICRISAT headquarters in Hyderabad, India.
As he transitions into his exciting new role, Stan will move to a half-time appointment on Apr. 1, 2024, supported by Dr. Vic Adamowicz (vice-dean, ALES). When Stan's term ends on June 30, 2024, Vic will serve as interim dean until Rickey joins the U of A on Oct. 1, 2024. ALES is in good hands with Vic as he bridges this leadership transition, and we are grateful to him for his leadership. Although Rickey will not officially start until Oct. 1, he will be working closely with Stan and Vic on the leadership transition and plans on visiting the U of A to learn more about the great work happening in ALES.
Please join us in welcoming Rickey to the U of A. We would like to thank the selection committee members and ALES faculty, staff and students who participated in this process.
Dr. Verna Yiu
Provost and Vice-President (Academic)
Dr. Matina Kalcounis-Rueppell
Dean and Vice Provost, College of Natural and Applied Sciences