Faculty / Staff Spotlight: Dean Dennis Nef

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Dean Helps Reshape Fresno State’s DASH Program
Hayden Gray

As Dean of the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology at Fresno State, Dennis Nef is constantly assessing the standard of excellence to make Fresno State agriculture the most prominent in the Central Valley. Recently, he helped evaluate another program at the University.

Whether it be a segment of a farm operation or implementing little details to a department, each Dean has found a way to refurbish and refine an aspect of the school, like the one before him or her.

Nef began his life at Fresno State in graduate school as an ag economist. Little did he know his expertise in land and water economics led him to be appointed Department Chair of Agribusiness and later the Associate Dean for a number of years. Nef then became the Dean of Undergraduate studies with a short period of time being the Interim Provost in between going back to his prior position.

Just as Nef planned to retire from a career filled with academia, he accepted the position as Dean from the Jordan College and got back to agriculture roots. With a BA in Business Administration, Nef had always enjoyed finances and the history behind agricultural economics.

Nef is planning to imprint his legacy on the creation and recent development of a Digital Agriculture Solutions Hubb (DASH). After the invitation to work with the partners of Fresno State, Nef set out with his team of industry professionals to develop the next generation of artificial intelligence.

“If we can improve relationships with our community partners, students can have more opportunity to study in the field,” Nef said. “ That’s where we will see our growth.”

DASH is designed to bring people together through fostering partnerships and experiential learning which ultimately turns into student entrepreneurships and research. This summer Nef along with other Fresno State faculty will be piloting the database for industry partners to find specific challenges and goals.

Farmers and faculty members will connect through the database and extract key phrases from all requests the grower may have. The analyses of the data will then match to obtain more information from the farmer.

Whether there is a seniored almond producer looking to learn about the density of almonds or a up and coming dairy production manager fielding questions about standard milk production, the artificial intelligence will connect a person of contact along with their research.

“This phase is getting exciting,” said the Dean.

Part of the modernization is the implementation of Artificial Intelligence of combining a student database to industry. The Digital Transformation will enable students to be matched with an industry and in turn, get internships and jobs.

As DASH comes to fruition, it will serve both as an academic innovation and a hotspot for new agriculture technology. His mindset is primarily focused on student and faculty success. Nef has already started the foundation of this pivotal moment in Fresno State agriculture. He will continue to foster passion through the students.

Nef went on to say, “DASH will help us grow that connection with industry and strengthen the student experience while providing our faculty and staff the opportunities to do research to solve real world problems.”