Antonio DiTommaso, associate professor of crop and soil sciences, has been named the first Richard C. Call Director of Agricultural Sciences by the Cornell University Board of Trustees.

In the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), he will oversee the interdisciplinary agricultural sciences major, which he helped create. It spans topics from agribusiness and food science to international agriculture and sustainability. The major was started five years ago with five students and has more than 80.

The position was created last fall through a $1 million gift from Trustee Emeritus Richard C. Call '52 and his wife, Marie. Call is the brother of Dean Emeritus David Call '54; the Call family has more than 30 Cornellians.

The gift will support DiTommaso in his role as director, including efforts to enhance curriculum development and other programmatic elements.

"The directorship allows us to provide continuity, visibility and prominence for the major. It also helps elevate agriculture, both within the college and to the outside community," DiTommaso said. "It's definitely an honor, and I'm humbled to have been selected.

"The gift has reinvigorated many of the applied agriculturally focused programs, and has really fostered a community across disciplines," DiTommaso said.

DiTommaso, an expert in weed science, joined the Cornell faculty as an assistant professor in 1999. Prior to that, he was a lecturer at McGill University. He became an associate professor and director of undergraduate studies for the agricultural sciences major in 2005.

He teaches three classes, advises 42 undergraduate and four graduate students, oversees several student research projects and internships, serves on many CALS committees and maintains an active weed ecology and management research program. He also is the recipient of many awards and is president-elect of the Northeastern Weed Science Society and associate editor of the journal Weed Technology.

"Toni ... has been an excellent citizen of CALS and of Cornell, contributing to the creation of a new generation of scientists of exceptional caliber," said Kathryn Boor, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences. "The passion and dedication he brings to the role will be a great tribute to Richard Call's legacy of agricultural leadership."

A dedication event will be held June 15.

Stacey Shackford is a staff writer at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.