NDSU News | New Hires

Leon Schumacher will join NDSU as chair of the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering. His appointment began Jan. 3.

Katie Tyler has joined NDSU Extension as Extension specialist and program director for Rural Leadership North Dakota. She started Oct. 25. Tyler will provide leadership for the coordination of the RLND program, focusing on transformational education programs and…

Sarah Beck has joined the NDSU Press staff as an editorial administrative assistant. Beck earned a bachelor’s degree in English at Brigham Young University and Master of Fine Arts in creative writing at Minnesota State University Moorhead. She taught at NDSU as an…

Laura Tonneson has joined the NDSU Bookstore as an assistant in the clothing and gift department. Her responsibilities include game day sales management, social media marketing, website management, in-store sales and service. Tonneson graduated from NDSU in 2016 with a…

Mark Genkinger has been selected as NDSU’s director of human resources following a national search. He began his new role on Aug. 23. Genkinger has more than 33 years of experience in human resources leadership, coaching and mentoring employees and management.

Colleen Fitzgerald will be the new NDSU vice president for research and creative activity. Colleen Fitzgerald has accepted the position of vice president for research and creative activity at NDSU starting on Oct.1, Provost Margaret Fitzgerald announced Aug. 18.

Clair Keene has joined the NDSU Department of Plant Sciences as an assistant professor and Extension agronomist specializing in cereal crops and field corn. She will deliver Extension education and conduct research that allows North Dakota producers to improve cereal…

Minwei Xu has joined the NDSU Department of Plant Sciences as an assistant professor in the food and cereal science group. He earned his bachelor’s degree in bioengineering from Tianjin University of Technology, China; master’s degree in fermentation engineering from…

Zachary Carlson has joined NDSU Extension as the beef cattle specialist. He will devote 70 percent of his time to Extension and 30 percent to research. Carlson’s Extension responsibilities include statewide programing that will offer improvements to existing production…