Dennis Nef, Ph.D.

Jordan College Dean Emeritus

Office: Peters 305 
Phone: 559-278-2996 
E-mail

Biography: Holding the role of Dean from July 2019 through August 2022, Dr. Dennis Nef served as the eighth Dean of the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology and successfully guided it through one of its most memorable periods of growth and change.

In prior university positions, he had served the Jordan College and campus in several key leadership positions in his previous 35 years as an administrator and faculty member since his arrival in the fall of 1983.

In his prior appointment, he served as vice provost from July 2014 to June 2019 after being appointed as an associate vice president in 2011. He also served as dean of undergraduate studies from 2003 to 2014 and as the interim provost for five months in 2009.

During the prior 20 years, he served as the Jordan College’s acting dean in the fall of 1997, and eight years as its associate dean from 1995 to 2003.

He also served five years as the agricultural economics department chair. His areas of teaching and research in seven prior years as a professor and lecturer included agricultural policy, natural resources, trade and land/water economics.

He was a member of the President’s Commission on the Future of Agriculture that released a report in 2014 outlining new academic and outreach opportunities to better connect the college and university with the nation’s leading agricultural area. He later co-chaired the President's Water Task Force.

He also served on the Fresno County Agricultural Land Conservation Committee and National Association of Agricultural Economics Administrators board of directors.

He holds a bachelor of science degree in business administration from Brigham Young University, and M.S. (Utah State) and Ph.D. (Iowa State) degrees in agricultural economics. He and his wife are the parents of five children and grandparents of 13 grandchildren.

After he announced his retirement from the Dean position, he resumed the title of professor in the fall of 2023 and teaches Agricultural and Food Policy (AGBS 150) courses through its faculty early retirement program (FERP).