Dean Neal Van Alfen

Neal Van Alfen was raised in Modesto, California, and received a B.S. in chemistry in 1968 and M.S. in botany in 1969 from Brigham Young University. He received a Ph.D. in plant pathology from the University of California, Davis in 1972.

Van Alfen started his professional career as a plant pathology research scientist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven studying tree diseases. In 1975 he moved to Utah State University to be a Cooperative Extension plant pathology specialist and a member of the faculty of the Department of Biology. While at Utah State University he served as a professor of biology and molecular biology and biochemistry. In 1990 he moved to Texas A&M University, College Station to serve as head of the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology.

In 1999, Van Alfen returned to UC Davis to become dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Van Alfen's research interests have focused on controlling plant disease using low input, sustainable methods. His current research interests are to develop biological control strategies for fungal diseases. In particular, he studies how viruses of fungi can be used to control plant diseases. He also has extensive experience as a consultant on effects of air pollution on environmental health.

Van Alfen has served on numerous national committees and boards, including a number of National Research Council studies on biological control. He currently serves as Editor of Annual Review of Phytopathology, one of the most highly-cited professional publications in the plant sciences, and he recently served as president of the American Phytopathological Society, a 5,000-member international professional society of plant pathologists. Van Alfen recently chaired the National Agricultural Biotechnology Council and was a founder of the Agricultural Biotechnology Communicators group. He is an elected fellow of the American Phytopathological Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.