Following a competitive national search, Matthew Daum will be recommended to the Michigan State University Board of Trustees to serve as dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, or CANR, and associate provost. Pending board approval, his term will begin June 13, 2025.

 

Daum has provided interim leadership to CANR since July 1, 2024, when he succeeded outgoing dean, Kelly Millenbah.

“A proven and strong leader, collaborator and partner, Dr. Daum brings impressive academic and industry experience to our College of Agriculture and Natural Resources,” said MSU Interim Provost Thomas Jeitschko. “Matt fully and wholeheartedly embraces the land-grant mission and aspirations of CANR — along with the ‘one team’ mindset guiding the university — and will help advance excellence in our academic programs, creative and impactful research, and stakeholder engagement and community impact across Michigan and beyond.”

Daum is a three-time graduate of MSU’s School of Packaging, where he earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. He spent 26 years at HP Inc. (formerly Hewlett Packard), where he held a wide range of global executive management positions.

He returned to MSU in early 2020, when he was selected to lead the nation’s first, largest and most highly ranked school of academic packaging program. He served as the School of Packaging’s director from 2020 to 2024, where he led a donor-supported comprehensive renovation of the school’s classrooms, collaboration areas and research spaces. Daum also served as assistant dean for corporate engagement and strategy. In that role, he launched the CANR Leadership Council, which consists of corporate executives who provide strategic input to college leadership, and he developed the business plan for the School of Packaging’s second-phase building project.

As interim dean, in partnership with MSU Extension and MSU AgBioResearch leadership, Daum worked to develop aligned capital campaign priorities for Advancement in support of graduate student and faculty investment, aspirational infrastructure projects, undergraduate experiential learning, and community engagement. He has also continued to develop CANR’s strong wide-ranging engagement with stakeholders and partners.

“I see many opportunities ahead to lead through change and elevate CANR — and MSU — as a world-leading, contemporary land-grant institution,” said Daum. “This is a college with strong stakeholder relationships and unparalleled community impact, and we’re going to build on those historical strengths. We’re all one team here, and I’m honored to serve CANR’s outstanding faculty, researchers, students and staff.”