TAMU-Commerce ag leader takes dean position at Tarleton State University

By DAVY MOSELEY | Country World East Texas

June 14, 2001 -- Dr. Don Cawthon, agriculture department head at Texas A&M University-Commerce for the past 12 years, has taken a dean position at Tarleton State University in Stephenville. Dr. Robert Williams, an assistant professor in the Commerce agriculture department, will take the reins as interim department head.

Effective June 1, Cawthon began serving as dean of the college of agriculture and human sciences at Tarleton State, and resident director of the Texas A&M Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Stephenville.

"I presumed I would retire from Commerce, but this is an incredible opportunity for professional growth on my part. It was a very attractive position to me, so I went for it," Cawthon said on June 7. "Texas A&M-Commerce was very good to me and for me, and I enjoyed my tenure there. Commerce has a great institution."

Cawthon will be supervising four academic departments as dean of the college of agriculture and human sciences that have a total of 1,200 majors. The four departments are animal science; agriculture services and development; the department of agribusiness, agronomy, horticulture and range management; and the department of human sciences.

"I'm looking forward to the opportunity to work in an institution of higher education with a much larger agriculture program, and being more formally associated with the A&M system through the Research and Extension center," Cawthon said.

A instructor of horticulture science and food science at A&M-Commerce, the new dean's daily duties in Tarleton will include working with curriculum development, budgeting, student advising, administration, supervising activities at the Research and Extension Center, and working closely with Extension directors for coordinating activities for Extension District 8.

"I'm going to miss the daily interaction with students in the classroom. I'm certainly going to miss working with the faculty and staff at A&M-Commerce; in the agriculture department and across the campus. I have a lot of friends there."

Cawthon, a pioneer in the research of composting of chicken mortality, relayed that ongoing research projects will be continued by Byron Housewright, an animal nutritionist from Mount Vernon.

"Timing on (taking the dean position) was just about perfect,"Cawthon said. "Byron has been assisting me for some time now, and really has a handle on the research. I hope to still have a role to play in composting, but the project is in good hands."