Holcomb named assistant director of Food and Ag Products Center
Friday, August 30, 2024
Rodney Holcomb’s responsibilities in the Food and Ag Products Center include identifying research and outreach opportunities to support sectors of the Oklahoma food industry. (Photo by Todd Johnson, OSU Agriculture)
Rodney Holcomb has been named assistant director of Oklahoma State University’s Robert M. Kerr Food and Agricultural Products Center and the McLaughlin Family Endowed Chair for Food Safety.
He will help lead the Food and Ag Products Center through a renovation of its processing facilities while identifying new research and outreach opportunities to support Oklahoma's growing food industry. Holcomb will continue working with the center’s clients and focus on research in food safety technology, consumer perceptions of food technologies and food labels.
“It is a well-deserved promotion for Dr. Holcomb to lead client support, entrepreneurism and business development,” said Roy Escoubas, director of the Food and Ag Products Center. “He has many years of experience and is a respected leader in the food and agribusiness sectors across America.”
Holcomb is a professor in the OSU Department of Agricultural Economics and a food economics specialist for OSU Extension. A member of the OSU faculty since 1997, Holcomb specializes in agribusiness development with research projects in value-added manufacturing economics and market evaluations. He is an Oklahoma AgCredit board member and leads OSU agribusiness management courses.
He has received local and state awards for his technical service knowledge in food business training, industry analyses, market evaluations and venture feasibility assessments. Holcomb is a recipient of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Plow Honor Award for Exceptional Service, the highest award given by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. He graduated from Texas A&M University with a bachelor’s degree and doctorate in agricultural economics.
Holcomb said he hopes to transform the Food and Ag Products Center’s facilities, equipment and personnel to continue serving as a valuable resource for the state’s food industry and the faculty and students of OSU Agriculture.
“The Food and Ag Products Center is such a unique facility. There’s nothing else like it in Oklahoma or the U.S.,” he said. “It’s always been a pleasure to be part of the team and now it’s an honor to play a role in shaping the center’s future.”