UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Beth Gugino, professor of plant pathology in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, has been named assistant dean for graduate education in the college. Her appointment was effective Oct. 1.

Reporting to the associate dean for research and graduate education, Gugino will provide administrative and programmatic leadership for 13 resident and three online graduate degree programs, as well as for the college's participation in nine intercollege graduate degree programs. She also will develop and implement programs that enhance graduate student success, promote research experience and guide professional development to support the research mission of the college.

“Beth Gugino’s experience as a researcher, graduate program coordinator, student mentor and extension specialist gives her a comprehensive understanding of the college’s land-grant mission,” said Blair Siegfried, associate dean for research and graduate education. “Her innovative ideas and her commitment to training and mentoring our graduate students to become contributing members of the scientific community will be invaluable in attracting the best and brightest graduate researchers to the college.”

Gugino noted that she looks forward to building on the strengths of the college’s current graduate programs.

“I plan to seek opportunities to enhance graduate education so that our graduates have not only the knowledge and skills to conduct top-notch research and extension programming but also the essential skills needed to navigate and succeed in a diverse and competitive job market,” she said. “In addition, my hope is to communicate the value of a graduate degree from the College of Agricultural Sciences as we work together to recruit and build a graduate student community that is diverse and resilient.”

Gugino earned a bachelor’s degree in horticulture and master’s and doctoral degrees in plant pathology, all from Penn State. She was a postdoctoral scholar in plant pathology at Cornell University from 2004 to 2008 before joining the faculty in Penn State’s Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology as an assistant professor.

She achieved the ranks of associate professor in 2014 and full professor in 2019. She also has been director of graduate studies for the department since 2016.

Gugino has been thesis or dissertation adviser or co-adviser for 12 graduate students and has served on the graduate committees of more than 30 others. She also has contributed to courses in integrated pest management and has mentored nine undergraduates during independent research or internships.

Gugino’s research and extension interests include integrated vegetable disease management, plant pathogen diagnosis, disease monitoring and forecasting, and sustainable crop production. She works with research faculty, extension specialists and county-based educators to develop integrated pest and crop management strategies to address important and emerging diseases of the major vegetable crops grown in Pennsylvania.

She also has focused on existing and new technologies that can provide growers and other agricultural service providers with research-based information on pathogen biology, epidemiology and vegetable disease management. She has authored or co-authored 37 peer-reviewed journal articles, 80 conference proceedings and scores of extension publications and trade journal articles. In addition, she has given more than 350 extension presentations.

Gugino has served on several college and University committees and is a member of the American Phytopathological Society, the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture and the Pennsylvania Vegetable Growers Association. She served on the board of directors of Pennsylvania Certified Organic from 2017 to 2021, and she is currently a member of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Pesticide Advisory Board.

Among Gugino’s numerous awards and honors are the 2019 American Phytopathological Society Excellence in Extension Award, the 2013-14 Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology Excellence in Teaching Award, and the 2011 American Phytopathological Society Northeastern Division Early Career Professional Award. She was inducted into Gamma Sigma Delta - Honor Society of Agriculture and Phi Alpha Xi - Honor Society of Horticulture.

More information about the College of Agricultural Sciences’ graduate education programs can be found on the college’s website.