Last week, CFANS Dean Brian Buhr announced that Brent Williams, PhD, will be the next Soil, Water, and Climate Department Head, effective July 24, 2023. Brent succeeds professor Carl Rosen, who has led the department for the last 13 years and will remain in SWAC, refocusing his time on research, teaching, and Extension.
A few words from Brent
"I'm thrilled to be joining the SWAC team and can't thank you enough for all the kind welcome messages. I really enjoyed getting to meet so many of you during my campus visit and I'm excited to meet the rest of the department later this summer. I'm truly honored for the opportunity to serve as the next Department Head for such a talented group. I'll be doing lots of listening and learning and I'll work hard to be a strong advocate for every SWAC member and for our chosen future initiatives.
"This department has a distinct combination of skill sets to address some of the most pressing challenges faced by Minnesotans and across the planet. Working together we can help to ensure sustainable resource management, healthy soils, clean water and air, while still meeting the growing agricultural and other development demands. This department has a long history of being ahead of the curve to predict future issues and discovering proactive solutions. I look forward to continuing that trend together through research, extension, and by equipping our students with the tools they need to become future leaders and accomplish the things we can only dream of today."
Brent's background
Brent grew up in South Dakota to parents Betty (Twiss), a special education teacher, director, and school administrator and Ted Williams, a psychologist and previous director of the South Dakota Developmental Center. Brent spent summers helping on the family farm, where he worked the alfalfa fields when crops were ready and hand cut thistles to keep him, his brothers, and his cousins out of trouble in the times between. Brent earned a BS in Physics from St. Cloud State University (research mentor John Harlander) and a PhD in Environmental Science, Policy, & Management from the University of California at Berkeley (advisor Allen Goldstein). He did a postdoc at the University of Minnesota in Mechanical Engineering (mentor Peter McMurry) and at Aerodyne Research Inc. near Boston, MA. He served as a faculty member at Washington University in St. Louis for 13 years within the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering. At WashU he helped to start the Center for Aerosol Science & Engineering and served as an initial center coordinator. He also helped to start the WashU Climate Change Program and served as the program's initial director. Brent has two daughters, Eliza and Georgia, together with his partner of 18 years, Ingrid Weise, who is a photographer and video artist.