David Monks named research service interim director

Dr. David Monks has been named interim associate dean and director of the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service following the Sept. 1 retirement of Dr. W. David Smith.

Monks, a professor of Horticultural Science, currently serves as assistant director of the Agricultural Research Service. He joined the N.C. State University faculty in 1989 after working as an extension weed scientist at the University of Tennessee.

In the Department of Horticultural Science, Monks served as Extension Leader and Assistant Department Head. He was also responsible for weed management in vegetable and fruit crops. Monks was named assistant director of the Agricultural Research Service in 2006. His responsibilities have included commodity relations and research station administration.

Monks was honored by the American Society for Horticultural Science in 2009 with both the Outstanding Extension Publication Award and the Outstanding Extension Educator Award. He also received the society’s Distinguished Achievement Award in 2006, while in 2005, he received the Educator of the Year award given by the North Carolina Vegetable Growers Association.

Dr. Sylvia Blankenship, Interim Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, said a search will be mounted to fill the position of Associate Dean and Director on a permanent basis.