Dr. Levon Esters will become vice provost for graduate education at Penn State and dean of its Graduate School, effective May 1, 2023.
Dr. Levon Esters
Esters is currently the associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion and faculty affairs for Purdue University’s Polytechnic Institute and professor of agricultural sciences education. He is also director of the Mentoring@Purdue program and director of Cornell University’s Thomas Wyatt Turner Fellowship Program. Previously, he was coordinator of the Agriculture Teacher Education Program in Iowa State University’s College of Agriculture.
“Dr. Esters is a respected mentor, educator, and scholar who brings a wealth of experience and leadership that will be critical to Penn State’s continued growth and success as a leader in graduate education worldwide,” said Dr. Justin Schwartz, interim executive vice president and provost at Penn State. “We all will benefit from Dr. Esters’ depth of knowledge and expertise as a researcher, teacher and leader. Dr. Esters has an excellent track record of developing programming designed to serve the needs of students from underrepresented backgrounds, and his leadership will be invaluable to promoting the continued excellence and growth of graduate education at Penn State.”
Esters’s scholarly work focuses on Black graduate students and faculty; historically Black land-grant universities; marginalized and minoritized students; educational equity and access; and educational and professional mobility and development.
Esters holds a doctoral degree in agricultural and extension education from Penn State; a master of science degree in agricultural education from North Carolina A&T State University; and a bachelor's degree in agricultural business from Florida A&M University.
