AMES, Iowa — Asheesh "Danny" Singh has been named the new associate dean for research and discovery and associate director of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station for Iowa State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, effective Jan 1, 2025.
Singh came to Iowa State in 2013 as a faculty member in agronomy. He is currently co-director of the Iowa Soybean Research Center (ISRC) and professor of agronomy with expertise in soybean breeding and phenomics. He is also a pioneer researcher in the emerging field of cyber-agricultural systems.
In his new role, Singh will provide the dean, department chairs and other unit directors with strategic guidance and counsel on opportunities and challenges related to the effective and compliant conduct of the college's research enterprise, and further enable the college’s graduate student programs. Working in collaboration with the dean and other associate deans, he will help ensure operations directly advance and integrate across the college's missions, and that resources are deployed wisely. He will engage with department chairs and individual faculty and programs to find ways to amplify the resources, impact and scope of research activities across the college.
"On behalf of the college, I am very pleased to have Dr. Asheesh Singh join the leadership team to help advance every aspect of our research enterprise," said Daniel J. Robison, holder of the endowed dean's chair in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. "He brings great skills as a scientist and committed, engaged faculty member, and he has shown terrific energy in research excellence, funding, mentoring, collaboration and impact. Asheesh will be a great partner to us all and will continue the tradition of service and excellence set most recently by Carolyn Lawrence-Dill.
Singh holds a bachelor's degree in agriculture and animal husbandry from G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology in India, a master's degree from the University of Saskatchewan and a doctorate from the University of Guelph. Prior to joining Iowa State University, Singh worked as a research scientist at the Semiarid Prairie Agricultural Research Centre of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
As a research leader or co-investigator on more than 70 competitive grants for research and teaching, Singh has brought in more than $100 million in project awards during his career. His main research areas involve soybean breeding and artificial intelligence for crop breeding and production. He has participated in developing more than 70 cultivars and germplasm lines for wheat and soybean, of which more than 35 have been commercialized.
A Fellow of the Crop Science Society of America, Singh previously chaired the organization's Division for Crop Breeding and Genetics. In 2023, Singh was appointed G.F. Sprague Chair by Iowa State's Department of Agronomy. He leads the Soynomics research group with collaborators in CALS and the College of Engineering, which was recognized with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Team Award (2021). He received Iowa State's Mid-Career Achievement in Research Award (2021) and the Department of Agronomy's Raymond and Mary Baker Agronomic Excellence Award (2020). He is a Plant Sciences Institute faculty scholar and also a highly regarded instructor who teaches plant breeding and cultivar development courses in the Department of Agronomy.
"I am thrilled at the prospect of serving our college and institution in this capacity," Singh said. "We are very fortunate to have a college with diverse disciplines and researchers recognized both locally and globally. I look forward to supporting them for continued excellence and service to stakeholders. I am excited to work with our departments, centers and the Office of the Vice President for Research to support the college’s research portfolio and Iowa State’s innovation initiatives.”
Dean Robison thanked the search committee for its excellent work under the leadership of committee chair, Dr. Kendall Lamkey, the college’s associate dean for facilities and operations, and he complimented the other excellent candidates for this position.
About the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University is one of the world's leading agricultural institutions, with more than 160 years of leadership in science, education and extension. The college has 294 tenured and tenure-eligible faculty and 479 professional and scientific staff in 14 departments, eight of which are co-administered with another college. CALS departments are home to 3,710 undergraduates and 580 graduate students. Over the past five years, CALS-supported scientists have brought in an average of about $60 million annually in sponsored funding.
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Contacts
Asheesh Singh, Department of Agronomy, 515-294-3268, singhak@iastate.edu
Daniel J. Robison, endowed dean’s chair of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, robisond@iastate.edu