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Published on 02/19/08

Brown named assistant dean of UGA Extension

By Faith Peppers
University of Georgia

Steve L. Brown has been named the assistant dean for the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, said J. Scott Angle, the dean and director the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Brown is a native of Huntsville, Ala., and graduate of Auburn University and Clemson University. He has been with CAES for 18 years as a professor of entomology and UGA Extension program coordinator. For the past two years, he has been the interim assistant dean over the CAES Tifton campus.

"Dr. Brown brings a wealth of administrative and technical experience to the position having served as the interim assistant dean in Tifton and his extensive work as a well-known extension entomologist working in the areas of peanut and stored products pest management,” Angle said.

Brown will start his new job April 1. He will lead statewide educational programs in the areas of agriculture and natural resources.

"I look forward to serving the citizens of Georgia, particularly with regard to the many challenges facing agriculture and the management of our natural resources," Brown said.

“We are very fortunate to have someone with such a broad background in agriculture, extension educational programs as well as administrative experience move in to the position of assistant dean for extension,” said Beverly Sparks, CAES associate dean for UGA Extension. “Steve has a strong history of service to CAES, and I look forward to working with him in his new role.”

During his CAES career, Brown helped develop practical programs and management strategies for the tomato spotted wilt virus, a deadly plant disease that attacks tobacco, tomatoes, peppers, peanuts and other crops.

He created the UGA Spotted Wilt Risk Index, a planning tool that helps farmers assess and lower their risk for the disease.

Brown is an expert on insect control in stored grains, peanuts and cottonseed. He oversees the only demonstration grain treatment and storage facility in the South, which provides training for UGA Extension county agents and farmers.

Faith Peppers is the director of public affairs with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.