Glenda Gillaspy
Dean, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UW–Madison
In my first year as dean, I appreciate the warm welcome from the many partners of the Dairy Innovation Hub. One of my first activities was to visit UW–Platteville for the Hub advisory meeting in August of 2022, where I learned about the strong and unique partnerships between industry and the three university campuses. The Hub is clearly an important driver for research innovation and success of the dairy community in our state.
We had three Hub-funded faculty join UW–Madison this year, representing different disciplines. Lautaro Rostoll Cangiano is an immunology expert and an assistant professor in animal and dairy sciences. Gulustan Ozturk is an assistant professor of food science. Xia Zhu-Barker joined soil science as an assistant professor. Each of these talented, early career scientists come to us from other countries–proving that the Hub is meeting its goal of attracting the best dairy talent in the world to come to Wisconsin.
Last fall, I visited an innovative Wisconsin dairy farm operated by the Schmidt family in Lone Rock, along with new UW–Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin and Senator Howard Marklein. It was an excellent day to see the land-grant university mission to connect people and businesses to the university.
The Hub is an innovative entity in which researchers collaborate across disciplines and across campuses, in strong partnership with the state’s dairy professionals. It is truly a model for how many partners can work together to move agriculture forward in our state.
Charles Steiner
Interim Dean, College of Business, Industry, Life Science and Agriculture, UW–Platteville
The Dairy Innovation Hub continues to provide a means for collaboration, bringing stakeholders together with the common goal of strengthening the Wisconsin dairy community and moving innovation and research forward. Over the past year, the Hub has provided a wealth of opportunities to connect with dairy farmers, processors, researchers, and organizations working together to address critical issues facing the Hub’s four key priority areas.
At UW–Platteville, we were excited to announce Tammy Evetovich as our 15th Chancellor in April. Chancellor Evetovich served as Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at UWPlatteville since May 2020. Chancellor Evetovich is passionate about initiatives that benefit rural communities and grew up on a small family farm in Nebraska.
Our School of Agriculture has new leadership with Tera Montgomery beginning her role as director on July 1, 2023. Montgomery is a professor of dairy and animal science and has served as our campus liaison for the Hub since its inception. The Hub has brought about transformational change to the School of Agriculture and university. Our increased capacity to conduct dairy research and related projects, critical to the future of dairy in the state, is unparalleled. We look forward to hosting the Dairy Summit at UW–Platteville on Nov. 15 and hope to see you there.
Michael Orth
Dean, College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, UW–River Falls
I started as dean on June 1st. I am thrilled to be at UW–River Falls with its reputation of providing a strong workforce for the agricultural and natural resources sectors. In my first months on the job, I’ve learned how the Dairy Innovation Hub serves as a platform for student career opportunities and engagement in innovative research.
Numerous students have collaborated with faculty on Hub projects at UWRF and I am looking forward to learning more about their experiences and the opportunities opened to them by the Hub. I’ve toured the laboratory spaces on campus that have been designed to accommodate Hub research. They are impressive and our faculty are excited about working in those spaces. We also anticipate the re-opening of our remodeled dairy plant this fall, which will lead to even more collaborative opportunities.
On the faculty side, we welcomed Maria Fuenzalida with her expertise in animal health as our final faculty hire under the Hub. Kate Creutzinger, assistant professor of animal welfare and behavior, has procured USDA funding. And Grace Lewis, assistant professor of dairy processing, coached her student team to a first-place finish in the Dairy Management Inc. New Product Competition. This is a remarkable accomplishment given it was our first time in the competition and they faced teams from across the country, including many graduate students. These are just a few examples of great things happening at UWRF because of the Dairy Innovation Hub. I look forward to meeting many of you, our dairy community partners, over the course of this next year.