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Daniel Scholl, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ's vice president for research and economic development, has announced he will retire, effective December 2026, concluding a distinguished career in research, education and administration including nine years overseeing the transformational growth of SDSU's research enterprise. 

Scholl has been with SDSU since 2011, when he was hired as the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station's director and the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Science's (then College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences) associate dean for research. In 2016, he was named the college's interim dean before moving into his role as vice president for research and economic development in July 2017. 
 
Thanks to Scholl's leadership and vision, the university's research enterprise has seen significant growth. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ expenditures have grown by 47% during his tenure, from $64 million in 2019 to a record-breaking $94 million in the last fiscal year. A crucial component to this work has been Scholl's relationship-building with South Dakota's Congressional delegation and its staffers, which has opened new doors for the university. 
 
The university's doctoral enrollment is also now up to 290 graduate students. His advocacy and strategic planning have brought the university to the cusp of achieving Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ 1 classification — a significant milestone that will bolster South Dakota's economy for generations to come. 
 
An equally impactful achievement for Scholl was strengthening the university's administrative bench. He played a key role in creating positions and hiring associate deans for research in each of the university's seven colleges, helping bolster each individual college's research capacity and coordination. 
 
"Teams are everything," Scholl said. "The research growth SDSU has experienced comes from the vision and effectiveness of the team in Division of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ and Economic Development as well as our seven college research leads, our research administration teams, and all who support the scholarship and creative work of SDSU faculty, staff and students."
 
Scholl also provided crucial leadership at SDSU during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing stability and support to faculty members while maintaining research operations. 
 
"The pandemic impacted everyone in multiple ways," Scholl said. "Drawing on my experience as an infectious disease epidemiologist was helpful as we navigated our shared experience of balancing key university functions with protecting people’s health. It was a defining privilege to work together with teams that provided rapid, responsive COVID-19 testing for our students."
 
Scholl's leadership paved the way for significant expansions to the university's research facilities. Under his tenure, SDSU built the Cow-Calf Education and Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Facility and the Swine Education and Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Facility (both completed in 2016), acquired land and developed the dryland research focus of the West River substation of the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station in 2018, renovated the Animal Disease Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ and Diagnostic Laboratory (reopened 2019) and constructed the Raven Precision Agriculture Center (completed in 2021). He also played a vital role in the construction of the POET Bioproducts Center, which opened in the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Park at SDSU in 2023, and the incorporation of Dakota BioWorx — a nonprofit organization that facilitates research projects in the POET Bioproducts Center. 

 
"It has been a privilege to work alongside Daniel over the past 15 years," SDSU President Barry H. Dunn said. "Daniel has been a steady and thoughtful leader whose impact can be seen across every corner of our research enterprise. From helping guide the university through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic to advancing a culture of innovation and discovery, he has left an enduring mark on Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ. His leadership has expanded doctoral education and helped position SDSU to reach its goal of moving to a Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ 1 classification. I am deeply grateful for his service, friendship and dedication to our students, faculty and staff."
 
Before coming to SDSU, Scholl served as a professor at the University of Montreal, where he conducted epidemiological research on dairy herds and served as the director of the Canadian Bovine Mastitis Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Network. Prior to his stop in Canada, Scholl was a faculty member in Louisiana State University's departments of pathobiological sciences, epidemiology and community health, and dairy science. His academic career started at the University of Utrecht’s Department of Herd Health and Reproduction — an institution in the Netherlands — as a research scientist and doctoral student.  
 
A decorated researcher, Scholl has over 50 peer-reviewed publications, authored three book chapters and has overseen millions of dollars in funding. He also successfully patented two bacterial vaccines. 
 
A national search for SDSU's next vice president for research and economic development will be led by a broad search committee chaired by Provost Dennis Hedge.