Richard Linton was selected as president of K-State by the Kansas Board of Regents at a December 2 meeting on the Manhattan campus and plans to start as the the 15th president of Kansas State University on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2022.
Linton is the dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at North Carolina State University. Until he arrives on campus in mid-February, current K-State President Richard Myers will remain at the helm. While Linton wraps up his responsibilities at NC State, he and Myers will also start on leadership transition plans.
"I am honored to take on the role of president of Kansas State University," Linton said. "The university is on an exciting trajectory, and its community has a contagious passion, culture and connectivity. I'm energized to help K-State forward and build on this positive momentum.”
Land-grant missions, food science, and agriculture
Linton is strongly connected to land-grant institutions, which is one of the reasons why he applied to become the next president of K-State. He earned his bachelor's degree in biology, master's degree in food science and doctorate in food science from Virginia Tech. From 1994-2011, he was a food science faculty member, director — and founder — of the Center for Food Safety Engineering and associate director of agricultural research programs at Purdue University. He served as department chair of food science and technology at The Ohio State University from 2011-2012 before accepting his current position with NC State.
--by KSU Communications