It’s March, and midway through his first full semester back at Colorado State University, Patrick Doyle is everywhere. Whether it is recruiting new students to CSU, advocating for resources on campus, or connecting with alumni and stakeholders at events across the state, Patrick has hit the ground running. It is said that agriculture doesn’t sleep, and seemingly, neither does Patrick Doyle.
Six months into his tenure as Animal Sciences Department Head, Doyle has crisscrossed the state and country to connect with as many CSU partners, alumni and prospective students as possible. Relationships have been key to every academic and professional success he has had throughout his life, and Doyle understands that this role will be no different.
From CSU to CSU
As an undergraduate animal sciences student at Texas A&M, an academic advisor suggested Doyle head north to Fort Collins for graduate school. At the time, CSU’s animal breeding and genetics program was one of only a handful of programs in the country focused on developing expected progeny differences (EPDs) for economically relevant traits such as beef cattle reproduction – predictions of a sire or dam’s genetic transmitting ability. Doyle earned both his M.S. and Ph.D. in animal breeding and genetics at CSU before launching his career at the American Gelbvieh Association, the first breed association to develop an economic selection index (Grid Merit EPD), weighting EPDs by their economic value and expressing the composite value as dollars per head.
As a graduate student, Doyle had engaged in hands-on learning under the tutelage of influential animal scientists like James Brinks, Don LeFevre, Bruce Golden and Ronnie Green. In 2001, Dr. Dave Daley, a professional acquaintance through a fellow CSU graduate student and renown California cattle producer, recruited him to California State University, Chico to teach.
“My time at CSU really shaped me as an academic and launched my career,” Doyle says. “The way I teach is solely due to the influence of my professors here.”
Those professors also included George Seidel at CSU’s Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory and reproductive physiologist Tom Geary. Doyle took a piece of each of their philosophies and used it to develop his own approach to teaching.
“CSU made me want to teach using what I had learned – especially the value of thinking outside the box when solving problems.”
Rigor and relevance
Doyle became the architect of Chico State’s College of Agriculture Student Success and Retention Office, developing academic support programs that engage students from early recruitment to graduation. He led peer-advising and tutoring initiatives, as well as the Chico STEM Connections Collaborative, a grant-funded Hispanic Serving Institution student support program that includes advising, self-improvement workshops, individualized academic support, and a summer undergraduate research program.
Doyle’s focus on student success and retention came from another important relationship – his wife, Teresa Ferguson Doyle, Dean of Instruction at Butte College. Teresa and Patrick often talked around the dinner table about the importance of helping students find what they like to do and what motivates them. Through those conversations, he further developed his teaching philosophy of “high rigor, high support.”
“High rigor, high support is expecting the most from students, but we have to support them in getting there,” Patrick explains. “Challenge students, set the bar high, and provide the resources and learning environment for students to be successful.”
In 2014, Doyle became the campus coordinator for Chico State’s Ag Research Institute, focusing on integrating students into the University’s research enterprise and engaging them in contemporary research projects focused on data analytics, technology advancement, livestock systems, economics, cropping systems and human health. Because of his influence, nearly a quarter of the Agricultural Research Institute’s campus funding now supports student research activities.
“Experiential learning makes a difference,” Doyle says. “One of the best things that we can do is undergraduate research opportunities – it creates soft skills, helps students find their passion.”
That research, Doyle says, needs to be cutting edge, and relevant to stakeholders and to the livestock industry.
Serving our state
Most recently, Doyle served as Associate Dean for the College of Agriculture at Chico State. During his 22 years in California, he always kept an eye on Colorado State. From the mentors who shaped his teaching style, to the memorable experiences he had managing performance programs for 450 cows and more than 80 bulls alongside the Moon family at CSU’s John E. Rouse Beef Improvement Center in Saratoga, WY, CSU has always held a special place in Doyle’s heart.
“One of the main reasons why I came back is that I see such opportunity to be engaged with the livestock industry,” Doyle says. “This role has given me an opportunity to help advance that mission of what the livestock industry means to Colorado.”
No one understands the important of serving the state more the James Pritchett, the outgoing Dean of CSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences who was recently tapped by the University to become its next Vice President for Engagement and Extension.
“Patrick’s mindset is anchored in impactful service whether that be to students, the industry, or the state of Colorado,” Pritchett says. “I am excited to see how his land grant mindset elevates the Department of Animal Sciences and Colorado Agriculture.”
As he embarks on the last stage of his career, seeking to give back to the University and the industry that has given him so much throughout his life, Doyle has one piece of advice for tomorrow’s agricultural leaders.
“When a door opens, don’t be afraid to walk through it.”
