COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS – The Texas A&M University Board of Regents recently named Jeff Savell as the vice chancellor of Texas A&M AgriLife and dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M.

Before this new position, Savell served as a distinguished professor of meat science at the university and was the E.M. “Manny” Rosenthal Chair in Animal Science.

His appointment starts on June 6.

“Dr. Savell is a great Aggie who is well-respected within academia and the agricultural community,” said Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp. “An added bonus – he makes pretty good barbecue!” 

Savell, a contributing editor to MEAT+POULTRY and co-author of “Meat Perspectives” with Kerri Gehring, a professor in the meat sciences section of the Department of Animal Science at Texas A&M (TAMU), has spent almost 50 years participating in meat judging through Intercollegiate Meat Judging, 4-H/FFA judging contests and associated training. His tenure as a meat judge began in FFA in Ferris, Texas.

As an undergraduate, he was a member of the 1974 Meat Judging team. He also served as an assistant coach in 1976 and head coach in 1977 while he was in graduate school at Texas A&M. From 1980-1993, he served as the Meat Judging Team Faculty Coordinator at TAMU.

Savell still teaches the introductory course on meat science as well as a freshman class on Texas barbecue. He also leads a graduate course in carcass composition and quality and team-teaches a graduate and undergraduate course in Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point. 

Other achievements for Savell include being a past president of the American Meat Science Association and a member of the Meat Industry Hall of Fame.

“Dr. Savell is a highly recognized scholar who has been identified among the top 2% of most-cited researchers in the world,” said Texas A&M President M. Katherine Banks. “His impact and long tenure at Texas A&M include teaching 12,000 Aggies and producing 150 graduate students who have become leaders in academia, industry and government.”