John Owens
Vice Chancellor for the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources
University of Nebraska-Lincoln • 202 AGH • Lincoln NE, 68583-0708 • 402.472.2871 • jowens2@unl.edu
John Owens has been Harlan vice chancellor for the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources and vice president for agriculture and natural resources for the University of Nebraska since January 2001.
Owens came to UNL after about 24 years at New Mexico State University, where he served as executive vice president and chief academic officer for three years. Before that appointment, he served 12 years as dean and chief administrative officer for the College of Agriculture and Home Economics, the New Mexico Cooperative Extension Service and the New Mexico Agricultural Experiment Station.
Owens began his career as an assistant professor of entomology at Iowa State from 1971 to 1975, then served one year as an associate professor of entomology at Texas Tech and one year as an entomologist for Pioneer Hi-Bred International before going to New Mexico State. At NMSU, he rose to the rank of professor and served one year as head of the department of entomology and plant pathology before becoming dean.
Owens earned his bachelor's degree in biology at West Texas State University (now Texas A&M University at Canyon, 1966), his master's in
entomology at Texas Tech University (1969) and his doctorate in entomology at Iowa State.
