Melton Heads Crop Science

Dr. Tom Melton, assistant director of Cooperative Extension and director of the National Science Foundation Center for Integrated Pest Management, been named interim head of the Department of Crop Science in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

Melton succeeds Dr. David Smith, who was named associate dean for research and director of the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service in January.

Melton joined the faculty in 1988 as an assistant professor of plant pathology and extension specialist working with tobacco. He holds a bachelor’s degree in botany and a master’s in pest management, both from NC State. His doctorate in plant pathology is from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.