CSU names Ajay Menon dean of College of Agricultural Sciences

FORT COLLINS — Colorado State University on Tuesday announced that Ajay Menon, dean of the College of Business for the last 13 years, has been named dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences.

The change becomes effective July 1.

Menon had announced last year that he planned to step down as dean of the business school to return to the classroom, and CSU named Beth Walker, chair of the marketing department at Arizona State University, as his successor.

Menon replaces Craig Beyrouty, who is leaving to become dean of the ag school at the University of Maryland.

“Our state’s agricultural industry is in a period of enormous innovation and change, and that aligns directly with Ajay’s expertise in business and the global marketplace,” CSU president and chancellor Tony Frank said in a press release from the school. “He also understands the importance of vision and strategy in moving an academic college forward. In short, he has the right experience on the business and academic sides — and the right relationships with major producers and commodity groups on the agricultural side — to lead our faculty and prepare our students to compete effectively in an evolving global marketplace.”

Menon has agreed to serve in his new post for three years. He joined CSU in 1991 as a member of the marketing faculty in the business school and has served as a consultant for several Colorado companies. He was named dean of the business school in 2002. In 2011, he was appointed the state’s first chief innovation officer by Gov. John Hickenlooper and served in the position for two years, helping in the creation of the Colorado Innovation Network.

“Ajay Menon understands innovation and entrepreneurship as well as any person in Colorado,” Hickenlooper said. “Colorado has the real opportunity to become the Silicon Valley of agriculture, and Ajay Menon would be a great person to help lead us there.”