CARBONDALE, Ill. — A 15-year veteran of Purdue University’s College of Agriculture will take over as the new dean of Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s ag program July 1.

Mickey A. Latour, a professor and also associate dean for Purdue’s Extended Campus and director of the school’s Distance Learning program, was selected recently over three other finalists by an SIUC search committee. His appointment was approved earlier this month by the SIU board of trustees; he will be paid $200,004.

“Dr. Latour’s extensive leadership and research experience will be a great benefit to the college and the University,” SIUC Chancellor Rita Cheng said. “He has a strong record of success in various administrative roles, both in the College of Agriculture and campus-wide at Purdue.”

Latour assumes control of an enrollment bright star for SIUC; while the university has seen its student population overall decrease from a high of 25,000 in the 1990s to fewer than 20,000 last fall, the ag college’s numbers have steadily climbed. Last fall there were 1,034 undergraduates enrolled in the ag college.

Latour joined the Purdue faculty as an assistant professor in 1997. As a researcher, he focused on lipid manipulation in final meat products, involving graduate and undergraduate students in his work. He is considered a national leader in lipid metabolism, playing a major role in identifying so-called “soft fat” in swine and especially as lipid metabolism relates to the quality of bacon and bratwurst.

As chief director of distance learning, Latour oversaw MBA programs in agriculture and management, technology master’s degree programs, online veterinarian technology degrees, teaching certificates and others. The distance-learning program brought in $10 million in new money for the various colleges and departments providing the courses.

He also led a rapid expansion of online access to courses, which resulted in an explosion in distance learning enrollments.

He said his background in leading Purdue University’s centralized online education effort has given him a great deal of experience working with others at Purdue, and with the private sector.

The three other finalists for the job were: Jerzy Nowak, professor emeritus, Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Lalit Verma, professor and head of the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at the University of Arkansas; and Todd Winters, SIUC’s ag college interim dean.