AMES, Iowa – After 14 years working in Texas, Glen Ritchie is heading north to Iowa, where he’ll assume the professor and chair role for Iowa State University’s Department of Agronomy, effective July 15.
Ritchie will take over for Mary Wiedenhoeft, who has been interim department chair since May 2023. Wiedenhoeft will remain with the department as a Morrill Professor of Agronomy.
“We are delighted Dr. Ritchie has agreed to join our great Department of Agronomy. His excellent leadership experience, and background in the study of crops, soils and water, position him to ensure the department continues with excellence preparing students for future careers, making impactful research discoveries, and being highly engaged in production agriculture and its many facets across the college, Iowa and globally,” said Daniel J. Robison, endowed dean’s chair in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “We thank Dr. Wiedenhoeft for stepping up and providing extraordinary leadership these past two years as interim department chair.”
Ritchie is a professor of crop physiology and has served for five years as chair of the Department of Plant and Soil Science at Texas Tech University. During his career, he has focused on plant water relations, resource partitioning and plant sensing techniques in cotton and other crops. He currently serves as editor of Crop Science and is a member of the American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of America and the Soil Science Society of America.
"The Department of Agronomy at Iowa State University is a world leader in agriculture, unique in its close relationship with Iowa agriculture, world-class research and quality of academic programs and students,” Ritchie said. “My goal is to maintain these attributes while helping our faculty, staff and students expand our state and global footprint."
Ritchie has a doctoral degree in crop physiology from the University of Georgia. His master’s and bachelor’s degrees in crop physiology and crop science, respectively, are from Utah State University. He also has an associate of applied science degree in crop science from Ricks College (now Brigham Young University-Idaho).
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Originally published April 22, 2025 by Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences