Moore named interim agriculture division vice president at MSU

Contact: Sid Salter

Reuben Moore (Photo by MSU Office of Agricultural Communications)

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Veteran Mississippi State University agriculture administrator Reuben Moore has been named interim vice president of the Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine (DAFVM), effective immediately.

The appointment is pending formal approval of the Board of Trustees, State Institutions of Higher Learning.

MSU President Mark E. Keenum announced Monday [March 25] that Moore would assume his new duties while current DAFVM Vice President Gregory A. Bohach is hospitalized and dealing with health issues. For the past 18 months, Moore has served as associate vice president of DAFVM.

“In order to allow Dr. Bohach to focus full attention on his health, MSU is extremely fortunate to have an able and experienced administrator in Reuben Moore who can lead the division in Dr. Bohach’s absence,” said Keenum. “I have complete confidence in Dr. Moore’s ability to bring decisive and effective leadership to this vital position, and I thank him for his willingness to serve.”

Bohach has led MSU’s agriculture division since 2009, when he joined the university from his previous post as associate dean of the University of Idaho’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and director of the Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station.

A Neshoba County native, Moore also has served as associate director of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.

Previously, Moore served four years as head of the North Mississippi Research and Extension Center in Verona. He was responsible for administration of research programs at four branch experiment stations—Northeast Mississippi in Verona, North Mississippi in Holly Springs, Pontotoc Ridge-Flatwoods in Pontotoc and Prairie in Prairie.

Moore served for 11 years as an Extension dairy specialist at Mississippi State. In that position he conducted dairy education programs and dairy waste management research. He also established the annual Mississippi-Louisiana Dairy Management Conference.

Before joining the Extension Service, Moore owned and operated a dairy farm near Philadelphia for 10 years.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in dairy science from MSU, a master’s in animal nutrition at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and a doctorate in animal physiology from MSU.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.