MANHATTAN —Monday opens the next chapter in university leadership at K-State. The university welcomes new President Richard and First Lady Sally Linton and family to Manhattan.
On December 2, The Kansas Board of Regents selected Richard Linton as the 15th president of K-State.
Linton was the dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at North Carolina State University.
"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.”
Linton is strongly connected to land-grant institutions, which is one of the reasons why he applied to become the 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.
During his 27-year career, Linton has published over 60 referred journal articles, 11 textbooks, and over 75 Extension publications. He has also presented over 250 invited talks at state, national, and international meetings and has received more than $15 million in research funding.
Linton said he plans to spend his first few weeks on campus listening and learning.
"I will be spending a lot of my early time getting to know all of you both on campus and off campus, and listening and learning about the Kansas State culture and your programmatic direction," Linton said. "I want to know your aspirations and your dreams for the future, and I want to help find pathways to get there. I can't wait to be your president, and go Cats!"
Linton and his wife, Sally, are parents of two: Lily, a senior in high school, and Chris, a sophomore in high school.