MU dean steps down to take UNC position

COLUMBIA, MO. — Dr. Joe Kornegay announced his resignation as dean of the University of Missouri (MU) College of Veterinary Medicine to accept a position at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (UNC), effective Oct. 16.

Kornegay will work in the Gene Therapy Center and the School of Medicine Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine with a secondary appointment in the Department of Neurology.

The new position will allow him to continue research on the canine form of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which he has been working on for 25 years, MU authorities say.

"UNC-CH has committed to provide new facilities that will allow us to expand our colony of affected dogs, and in turn, better meet the needs of researchers involved in preclinical studies," Kornegay says in a prepared statement.

Kornegay has been dean of the MU's College of Veterinary Medicine since 1998 and has been with the university since 1994.

The North Carolina-born professor is nationally recognized for veterinary neurology and has written or co-written more than 150 scientific papers, text books, book chapters and abstracts, MU reports.

MU's Provost Brian Foster will lead the search in finding the veterinary college's new dean.