Two College of Agriculture and Life Sciences faculty members have been appointed interim department heads: K.P. Sandeep for Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences, and Derek Aday for Applied Ecology.

With Chris Daubert leaving NC State to become vice chancellor and dean of the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at the University of Missouri, Sandeep will step into the interim role on June 16.

He has served as associate department head for the past five years, in addition to his work as research leader and professor with the department. He is also site director of the Center for Advanced Packaging Studies at NC State, a National Science Foundation Industry-University Cooperative Research Center.

Dean Richard Linton said that Sandeep is well-equipped to continue the momentum and success of FBNS. “K.P. has also been instrumental in helping with the North Carolina Food Manufacturing Initiative — a partnership with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Department of Commerce and our Kannapolis research facilities,” Linton said.

A graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology at Kharagpur, India, Sandeep earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. in agricultural and biological engineering from Pennsylvania State University. His research is related to thermal processing of foods. He has been a faculty member at CALS since 1997.

Aday, currently assistant dean and assistant director of CALS Academic Programs, will assume his new duties on July 1. Harry Daniels has led the department since 2011.

Linton said that Aday will bring a wealth of recent administrative experience to his new role. “I am excited about his ideas to grow and enhance our newest department in CALS,” he said.

Aday is a professor in the Department of Applied Ecology co-directing the Fisheries, Ecology and Aquatic Sciences Laboratory, which conducts research at the intersection of basic and applied ecology. He also serves as editor of the “Transactions of the American Fisheries Society.”