Message from the Dean

Dear Alumni and Friends, This has been a historic Fall semester for Tennessee State University with more than 3,500 freshman joining the university, the highest we have ever experienced. Its more than double the size of our usual freshman class!

I am delighted to share that this Fall semester the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences has begun the new Ph.D. degree program in Agricultural Sciences with 13 students. Our goal is to grow this enrollment to 40 students by enrolling about 10 to 12 students per year. This is the first Ph. D degree offering by the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. We continue to offer the second Ph. D degree in Biological Sciences in partnership with the Department of Biological Sciences.

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)/USDA awarded the university and its 1890 partners the 1890 Center of Excellence (COE) for Natural Resources, Renewable Energy, and Environment: A climate smart of approach. We host the Center in the College of Agriculture. We are extremely thankful to NIFA for this very timely funding as the globe is facing the impacts of climate change on a daily basis. The Center is funded at the rate of $1.92 million per year.

I am extremely pleased to share that the state of Tennessee has awarded the university $32.25 million to build the Food and Animal Sciences Building out of the state’s portion of American Rescue Plan funds. We are very thankful to Agricultural Commissioner Charlie Hatcher for facilitating the application process and the Fiscal Stimulus Accountability Group of the Legislature for approving the funding for this much needed facility at the University.

The rebuilding effort of the Agricultural Research and Education Center research facilities, destroyed by the 2020 tornado, is in full swing. This is a great collaborative effort among several internal and external partners including the Tennessee Board of Regents, several state agencies, and the insurance company.

Most of our faculty and staff have opted to be in-person for much of the work week this semester and so are most of our students. These days, we rarely hear that someone is sick with COVID-19 and it’s very satisfying and encouraging. Thanks to the wonderful science and modern medicine, we are able to come out of this pandemic and one day we may be able to eradicate it completely.

Thanks for your continued support of Tennessee State University and its land-grant programs!

Dr. Chandra Reddy, Dean College of Agriculture

Chandra Reddy Dean and Director of Research Administrator of Extension