October 16, 2015
Beef Cattle Institute slated for new director, advisory board
Submitted by College of Veterinary Medicine
K-State's Beef Cattle Institute, or BCI, created an important connection with the beef cattle industry when it was founded in 2007. After eight years of leadership, Dan Thomson has resigned as the director of the BCI and will return to a faculty role in the College of Veterinary Medicine.
To ensure continuity, the university will appoint an acting director to work with industry and academic partners to expand and enhance programming.
"We appreciate the role Dan Thomson has played in the creation and growth of the BCI," said Tammy Beckham, dean of the college of veterinary medicine. "The university has many faculty and staff members involved with ongoing research and education activities for the beef cattle industry. The industry faces critical challenges that require interdisciplinary solutions. We will emphasize collaboration between colleges and departments as we move forward with the BCI. Working to enhance the ties and collaborations between the College of Veterinary Medicine and the College of Agriculture helps leverage resources and expertise to support beef cattle production in the state of Kansas and the nation. We remain fully committed to serving production agriculture in the state of Kansas and helping our beef industry prosper."
Moving forward, Beckham said, the university will soon announce the formation of an advisory board of directors for the BCI, to include representatives from industry, production agriculture, the university and other entities. This board will play a key role in informing the future of the BCI.