Culminating a national search, University of Tennessee System President Randy Boyd and University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Chancellor Donde Plowman announced plans in March to recommend Carrie Castille as the new senior vice chancellor/senior vice president for the UT Institute of Agriculture at the next UT Board of Trustees Executive Committee meeting. In June, their recommendation received an affirmative vote of the board, with Castille’s effective start date set on July 1, 2022. She will replace Linda C. Martin, who has served in an interim capacity since Tim Cross retired from the role in August 2021. Martin will return to her full-time position as the UT System’s vice president for academic affairs and student success.
A Louisiana native, Castille has championed agriculture and rural issues for more than twenty years. Most recently serving as director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), she was a senior leader in the United States Department of Agriculture and the first woman to serve as NIFA director in a non-acting capacity. During her fourteen months as NIFA director, 168 people were hired into, or promoted from within, the understaffed agency, employee satisfaction measures increased dramatically, and the agency resumed its proper national leadership role in 4-H.
Castille quickly scaled the ranks within USDA, joining as state director for Louisiana Rural Development in 2017 before being named the Mid-South (Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri) coordinator for USDA’s Farm Production and Conservation mission area in 2019. She was appointed to her current position in January 2021.
Prior to joining USDA, Castille was appointed by USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack to the National Agriculture Research, Extension, Education, and Economics advisory board from 2010 to 2017. During this time, she served as board chair and was a delegate to the Association of Public and Land-grant University’s Council for Agriculture Research, Extension and Teaching.
“Tennessee’s number one economic driver is agriculture, so with a presence in all ninety-five counties, UTIA is a crucial asset to our state. Dr. Castille’s extensive and varied background in teaching, research, and Extension will be invaluable as we look for innovative ideas to build on the impact UTIA already has on the lives of all Tennesseans,” Boyd says.
The senior vice chancellor and senior vice president reports to both the UT Knoxville chancellor and to the UT System president. The position oversees and provides leadership to the Herbert College of Agriculture, the UT College of Veterinary Medicine, UT AgResearch, and UT Extension, and is the university’s chief advocate on issues of agricultural policy in support of the state. The leadership position is fully responsible for administration and management of the Institute’s units, including Extension offices in ninety-five counties, three regional
Extension offices, four 4-H Centers, and ten AgResearch and Education Centers.
“Dr. Castille will be a dynamic leader for the exceptional faculty, staff, and students at UTIA,” says UT Knoxville Chancellor Donde Plowman. “I look forward to working with her to grow the number of students we graduate to support Tennessee’s agriculture economy, while advancing agricultural sciences and translating that research to help Tennesseans. Dr. Castille’s expertise in higher education, state service, and the USDA makes her uniquely qualified to even further advance the culture of excellence and service that exists in our UT Institute of Agriculture.”
With the support of an executive search firm, a nineteen-member committee began its search process in December 2021. The committee narrowed the field to two candidates who toured the state in February to meet with members of Tennessee’s agricultural community.
The UT Institute of Agriculture is ready to surge ahead in agricultural innovation, educating our next generation of scientists and leaders, and serving the needs of farmers, ranchers, families, and communities across Tennessee.
CARRIE CASTILLE
“Growing up in a small, rural town surrounded by agriculture, I could see the value and importance of the industry every day. I focused my career on agriculture because it is so critical to our economy and to the health and well-being of the people we serve,” Castille says. “The UT Institute of Agriculture is ready to surge ahead in agricultural innovation, educating our next generation of scientists and leaders, and serving the needs of farmers, ranchers, families, and communities across Tennessee. I’m honored to be selected to lead UTIA, in partnership
with the UT System and stakeholders, to the endless opportunities ahead.”
In addition to her work with USDA, Castille previously served as associate commissioner and science advisor to the Commissioner for the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, as well as an assistant professor and an agriculture and natural resource cooperative Extension leader at Louisiana State University. She also was a consultant at the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture Research Foundation and the USA Rice Federation.
Castille has been recognized by USDA with the Secretary’s Award of Excellence (2003) and the Secretary’s Award for Excellence in Rural Development (2018). In 2017, she was the first female inducted into the University of Louisiana at Lafayette College of Engineering Hall of Distinction.
A first-generation college graduate, Castille holds a PhD in renewable natural resources (with emphasis on environmental and public policy) from Louisiana State University, an MS degree in environmental studies from Louisiana State University, and a BS degree in industrial engineering from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
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