Steven Lommel, associate dean for research with NC State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, accepted a 2024 agInnovation Award for Excellence in Leadership at the annual meeting of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities in Orlando, Florida.
The award recognizes those who have served the Southern Experiment Stations, Southern Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors and the national land-grant system with exemplary distinction.
Lommel has led the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service since 2013. He has been instrumental in developing the North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative, a multidisciplinary enterprise partnering with government agencies and the private sector. His previous experience in research administration positions includes serving as interim president of the David H. Murdock Research Institute and as assistant vice chancellor for research for NC State.
He serves as administrative advisor for several regional multistate projects and National Research Support Projects. Lommel was a founding member of the agInnovation 501(c)3 nonprofit, and he has served on the organization’s Budget and Legislative, National Research Support Project Review and Finance committees.
Lommel is a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Plant Pathology and a fellow of the American Phytopathological Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He serves on numerous university, state, federal and international scientific boards, committees and funding panels. He earned a B.S. degree in biology at the University of San Francisco, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in plant pathology/phytopathology from the University of California, Berkeley.
