Owens to step down as administrator for UNL agriculture department

For a land grant university in farm country, leadership in the field of agriculture is invaluable.

As of late Tuesday evening, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has about ten months to find a replacement for a familiar face in the agriculture department.

John Owens, vice president and Harlan vice chancellor for agriculture and natural resources, has announced his plan to step down from his seat, effective June 30, 2010.

"This is the time to do it," Owens said. "You don't see many administrators who are in their 70s."

The 65-year-old will turn 66 before his tenure as an administrator is through.

"John has made many significant contributions to the institute and to agriculture in Nebraska," said UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman in a statement. "More than that, he has been a personal friend and colleague."

Owens plans to remain at UNL as an Extension professor of entomology.

He said the demands of the job and minor health concerns contributed to his decision to step down.

Owens was recently diagnosed with two heart arrhythmias, but doctors found no blockage in his arteries.

He said that although he will remain busy as a professor, he is looking forward to a life less driven by a calendar.

Owens began his career at Iowa State and went on to spend nearly 24 years at New Mexico State – where his tasks ranged from "every job from untenured professor to acting president."

"There are pluses and minuses to every administrative position," Owens said. "But almost all of the minuses are due to budget constraints."

UNL's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources has seen steady improvements in the face of budget cuts over the past eight years. IANR's agricultural scientists rank 14th in the world in the number of times their articles are cited by other authors.

"I'm so absolutely pleased with the things the faculty was able to accomplish in spite of those (budget) cuts," Owens said.

Looking back at his time at UNL, he was particularly pleased to oversee the creation of a professional veterinary medicine program on East Campus.

Now that his decision has been made, Owens said he is looking forward to concentrating on his work as an extension professor, but he knows he might have "caught a few people by surprise" with his choice.

One project he will be focusing on is a new Web-based program for extension units involved with land grant universities across the nation to share information both with each other and the public.

The site, extension.org, has based its headquarters on East Campus and looks to harbor a plethora of information on about every subject.

But before he delves too deeply into more projects, Owens is looking forward to smiling wide in the morning when his alarm goes off, something his wife, Virginia, has been doing since she retired as a professor at NMSU.

"You can tell who the retired one is," Owens said with a laugh.

EVANCOTTEN@DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM