Lyvers Peffer Appointed Chair of the Department of Animal Sciences

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Pasha Lyvers Peffer as Professor and Chair of the Department of Animal Sciences. Her four-year term will begin on January 1, 2023. Dr. Lyvers Peffer has been Interim Chair since October 2021. Lyvers Peffer joined CFAES as an assistant professor in 2005, becoming an associate professor in 2011, and a professor in 2018. She previously served as undergraduate program leader and chair of Academic Affairs in the Department of Animal Sciences from 2014–2017, as interim associate chair of Animal Sciences from 2016–2017, and as acting assistant dean of CFAES Academic Affairs from 2017–2018.

Since her appointment as Interim Chair, Dr. Lyvers Peffer has worked toward building identity and priorities with the department. In moving forward as chair, Dr. Lyvers Peffer’s appointment will help provide leadership stability for the department while continuing important work in solidifying short- and long-term priorities. As many of you know, the department has seen 7 different department chairs (including interims) since 2010. Part of Dr. Lyvers Peffer’s charge is to: continue to work with the faculty on solidifying their identity and priorities; develop a structure for the department that fits the needs of recent changes such as the inclusion of additional faculty from the Center for Food Animal Health (CFAH); related to these changes, to work on building the cohesion of the department; and related to the department structure, to attend to the unique external relations needs of the department.