I am pleased to announce that the UBC Board of Governors has accepted the President's recommendation to appoint Dr. Amy Charkowski as Dean of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, for a five-year term commencing October 1, 2026. Her appointment reflects the university's commitment to advancing excellence and impact in support of food security, sustainable food systems, and planetary health.
Dr. Charkowski currently serves as the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Colorado State University (CSU). As a member of the college leadership team, she contributes to elevating research competitiveness, strengthening graduate education, and building cross-disciplinary collaborations across departments and colleges and with external partners. From this role, Dr. Charkowski has broad experience in aligning budgets, people, strategy, and institutional values at land grant universities.
Previously, she worked as an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist in a food safety research group before joining the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2001 as a faculty member in the Department of Plant Pathology, where she led the Wisconsin Seed Potato Certification Program from 2001 to 2016. She joined CSU in 2016 and served as department head for Agricultural Biology until 2023, when she was appointed Associate Dean. In 2020, Dr. Charkowski was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Dr. Charkowski’s research focuses primarily on plant pathogens that affect seed potato production or trade, including potato viruses, Spongospora, and soft rot bacterial pathogens of potato. She teaches graduate and undergraduate classes in integrated pest management and agricultural systems. Dr. Charkowski earned her PhD from Cornell University and holds a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
"The Faculty of Land and Food Systems’ vision of balancing food systems and planetary health, its interdisciplinary structure, and its commitment to partnerships with communities align deeply with my experience and values,” said Dr. Charkowski. "I aim to expand the exceptional hands-on learning that occurs in this faculty through support of research centres, community-engaged projects, and partnerships that connect classroom learning to real-world food systems challenges. I am very excited about joining this Faculty."
I would like to thank Dr. David Kitts for his dedicated service and leadership as Dean pro tem for the Faculty of Land and Food Systems since 2024.
I would also like to thank members of the President's Advisory Committee for their commitment and advice throughout the search process, as well as faculty, staff, students and members of the provincial community for providing valuable feedback.
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Charkowski on her appointment. I look forward to working with her and the Faculty of Land and Food Systems’ leadership team.
Gage Averill
Provost and Vice-President, Academic, UBC Vancouver