Expertise:
Higher Education, Change Management, Teaching, Student Success, Student Retention, Faculty Recruitment, Faculty Retention, Enrollment Management, Learning Loss, Student Belonging, College to Career, Data in Higher Education Success, University Shared Governance, Program and Curricular Review, Bargaining and Unionized Education Environments, Agricultural Statistics, Agritourism, Marketing & Specialty CropsAn entrepreneurial and collaborative leader with 20 years of experience in public higher education, Jennifer Brown began her academic career at Purdue University, where she held joint appointment in the departments of horticulture and landscape architecture & agricultural economics, where she also served as the inaugural director of distance education. There she created an integrated extension, teaching, and research program that explored marketing and consumer behavior trends for specialty crop and agritourism entrepreneurs and small business farmers. Her applied research program in sustainability and the specialty crop industry was recognized nationally, resulting in her appointment to the National Agricultural Statistics Service advisory committee.
Brown previously served as provost and vice president at Cal Poly Pomona. She was also the vice provost and dean of undergraduate education and professor in the School of Public Policy at the University of California, Riverside. As vice provost, she led the undergraduate education division and spearheaded institutional student success efforts for more than 20,000 undergraduates, overseeing persistence and retention, and ensuring organizational outcomes exceeded expectations.
Prior to UCR, Brown served as the Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School at Oregon State University (OSU) where she was responsible for overseeing 80+ graduate programs including 4500 graduate students and post-docs and 2000 graduate faculty with multi-million-dollar budget. She was a professor in the Department of Horticulture.
Selected Publications:
- Quality Online Education for Higher Education Requires Public Investment- https://calmatters.org/commentary/my-turn/2021/04/quality-online-education-for-higher-ed-requires-public-investment/, April 15, 2021
Research Publications:
- With H. Khachatryan, A. Rihn, B. Behe, C. Hall and C. Yue, “Visual Attention, Buying Impulsiveness, and Consumer Behavior,” Marketing Letters, 1-13, 2018
- With B. Campbell, H. Khachatrayan, B. Behe and C. Hall, “Crunch the Can or Throw the Bottle? Effect of ‘Bottle Deposit Laws’ and Municipal Recycling Programs,” Conservation and Recycling Resources, 106: 98-109, 2016
- With C. Yue, B. Campbell, C. Hall, B.K. Behe and H. Khachatrayan, “Consumer Preference for Sustainable Attributes in Plants: Evidence from Experimental Auctions,” Agribusiness, doi: 10.1002/agr.21435, 2015
- With B. Campbell, B. Behe, H. Khachatrayan and C. Hall, “Consumer Perceptions of Ecofriendly and Sustainable Terms,” Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, 44: 1-21, 2015
- With B.K. Behe, B. Campbell, H. Khachatryan, C. Hall, P.T. Huddleston and R.T. Fernandez, “Incorporating Eye Tracking Technology and Conjoint Analysis to Better Understand the Green Industry Consumer,” HortScience, 49:1550-1557, 2014
- With H. Khachatryan, B. Campbell, C. Hall, B. Behe, and C. Yue, “The Effects of Individual Environmental Concerns on Willingness to Pay for Sustainable Plant Attributes,” HortScience, 49:69-75, January 2014
- With B. Campbell, H. Khachatryan, B. Behe and C. Hall, “U.S. and Canadian Consumer Perception of Local and Organic Terminology,” International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 17 (2): 21-40, 2014
- With B. Behe, B. Campbell, C. Hall and H. Khachatryan, “Consumer Preferences for Local and Sustainable Plant Production Characteristics,” HortScience, 48(2): 200-208, February 2013
- With L.Z.B. Ndanga and K. Quagrainie, “Economically feasible options for increased women participation in Kenyan agriculture value chain,” Aquaculture, 414: 183-190, 2013
- With B. Behe, C. Hall, B. Campbell, H. Khachatryan and C. Yue, “Smartphone Use and Online Search and Purchase Behavior of North Americans: Gardening and Non-Gardening Information and Products,” HortScience, 48:209-215, February 2013
- With R. Gvillo, K. Quagrainie and N. Olynk, “Are Midwestern Fish Retailers Willing to Pay More for Regionally Grown Fresh-on-ice-Fish?” Agricultural Sciences. 4: 6A, 39-45, 2013
Interviews:
- “Inside Claudine Gay’s resignation and the hyper scrutiny haunting Black women in higher ed,” MichiganLive.com, Jan. 8, 2024
- “Interviewing Dr. Jennifer Brown from the University of California, Riverside,” University Innovation Alliance, Nov. 19, 2019
Education:
Ph.D., Horticulture, Michigan State University
B.S., Ornamental Horticulture; M.S., Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences (NRES); University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)