There’s a new hand on the wheel in the Mississippi State University Graduate School, with the appointment of an interim dean.
MSU announced Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Peter Ryan to the position Monday. Ryan has been on MSU’s faculty for 18 years, and will work closely with the associate deans of various MSU colleges, departmental graduate program directors and the MSU Graduate Council for the excellence of graduate education at MSU. He will continue to serve in his original position, as well.
The graduate school supports students in every MSU graduate program, providing assistance in academic matters, requirements, assistantships, fellowships and scholarships. The school also approves theses and dissertations.
“Graduate education is a very important component of the mission of Mississippi State University as a land-grant institution, and I look forward to working with the staff in the Office of Graduate Studies and with the colleges to provide the best service possible in meeting the needs of graduate students and graduate educators,” Ryan said.
Ryan’s background is in reproductive physiology, and he holds joint appointments in the Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences in the MSU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Department of Pathobioligy and Population Medicine in the MSU College of Veterinary Medicine. He is an alumnus of The University of Dublin, Trinity College and The University of Guelph, Ontario. He has also completed postdoctoral work at Princeton University and Rutgers University.
In 2015, he was awarded the Dean of Students Award of Excellence for his contributions to student well-being on campus.