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About the Interim Provost
Interim Provost Profile
Dr. Dennis Nef was named Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs by California State University, Fresno’s President John D. Welty effective February 2, 2009.
Dr. Nef joined the Department of Agricultural Economics at California State University Fresno in 1983. He has served in several capacities at the university including: Department Chair (1990-1995), Associate Dean in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (1995-2003) and Associate Vice President and Dean of Undergraduate Studies (2003-2009).
Since 1983, he has taught courses in a number of areas including Microeconomic Theory, Agricultural Finance, Natural Resource Economics and Agricultural Policy. Dr. Nef’s specialty areas are agricultural policy and resource economics, and he has conducted research in the areas of water and land use policy; worked with water districts, utility companies, local, state and federal government agencies and farm management firms on land, water and energy problems; and constructed computer based models to aid farmers in evaluating long term investments and in selection of energy rates for irrigation pumping. His most recent interest involves examining the use of technology in education.
As Associate Vice President and Dean of Undergraduate Studies, he was responsible for undergraduate curriculum including general education, academic scheduling, the University’s first year experience course (University One) and the Mentoring Institute. He worked closely with the Division of Student Affairs on student success initiatives, developing an expanded testing center, and implementation of the campus honor code.
A native of Idaho, he spent his youth milking cows and setting siphon tubes on his family’s dairy farm. Dr. Nef holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Brigham Young University, a M.S. in Agricultural Economics from Utah State University and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Iowa State University.
Dr. Nef and his wife live in Clovis and are the parents of 4 sons and a daughter. They also have two grandsons.