Finalists named for K-State ag dean

? Kansas State University has chosen three finalists for the position of dean of the College of Agriculture and director of research and extension.

The job became vacant earlier this year when longtime Fred Cholick was named president and CEO of the KSU Foundation.

The finalists to replace Cholick are William “Benjy” Mikel, a top official in the Food Science Institute at Mississippi State University; Kevin Kephart, vice president for research at South Dakota State University; and D.C. Coston, vice president for agriculture and university extension at North Dakota State University.

Each finalist is scheduled to visit Kansas later this month. They’ll spend three days being interviewed at the main campus in Manhattan and a half-day at the K-State Tri-Center Agricultural Research Center in Hays.