Introduction to OSU’s New Dean of College of Agricultural Sciences
Dr. Staci L. Simonich is Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences (CAS) and Director of the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station at Oregon State University (OSU). In addition, she is a Professor in Environmental and Molecular Toxicology and Chemistry at OSU. Previously, Dr. Simonich held the positions of Executive Associate Dean in CAS, Associate Vice President for Research Operations and Integrity at OSU, Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs in the College of Science, and Associate Department Head in Environmental and Molecular Toxicology.
In addition to receiving her MBA from Oregon State University in 2020, Dr. Simonich received her Ph.D. in chemistry from Indiana University in 1995. She completed APLU’s LEAD 21 training in 2017 and the Higher Education Resource Services Institute Leadership training, as a Clare Booth Luce STEM Scholarship Recipient, in 2018. Prior to joining Oregon State University and the College of Agricultural Sciences in 2001, she worked in the consumer product industry with Procter & Gamble for 6 years. With over 120 peer reviewed publications to date, Dr. Simonich’s laboratory research focuses on understanding the fate, chemistry and transport of pesticides and other semi-volatile organic compounds, as well as human and environmental exposure to these pollutants. She received the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry/Roy F. Weston Environmental Chemistry Award in 2001, the NSF Career Award in 2003, the College of Agricultural Sciences Savery Outstanding Young Faculty Award in 2006, OSU’s Impact Award for Scholarship in 2013, and OSU’s Excellence in Graduate Mentoring Award in 2015. Her research has been published in Science, Nature, Environmental Health Perspectives, Environmental Science & Technology, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
During her tenure at OSU and CAS, Staci has mentored 30 PhD and MS students and 24 undergraduate students in her laboratory and has received several awards related to her mentoring of diverse groups of OSU students and employees. Over her career, Dr. Simonich has received over $15M in extramural funding from the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Department of Defense, and Department of Interior and became a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2021.