Shane C. Burgess

College of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences

A native of New Zealand, Dr. Burgess has worked around the world as a practicing veterinarian and scientist. His areas of research expertise include cancer biology, virology, proteomics, immunology, bioinformatics, and computational biology. 

Dr. Burgess is Vice President for the Division of Agriculture, Life and Veterinary Sciences, and Cooperative Extension, and the Charles-Sander Dean of the College of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Arizona. The division has a total budget of $320M with 3,800 students and 1,250 employees. 

A first-generation student, Dr. Burgess graduated with distinction as a veterinarian in 1989 from Massey University, New Zealand. He has worked in, and managed veterinary clinical practices in Australia and the United Kingdom, with services in horses, farm animals, pets, wild and zoo animals, and emergency medicine and surgery. He did a radiology residency at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia, where he co-founded Perth's first emergency veterinary clinic concurrently, and he has managed aquaculture facilities in Scotland. He did his Ph.D. in three distinct disciplines (virology, immunology, cancer biology), conferred by University of Bristol Medical School, while working full time outside of the academy between 1995 and 1998.  

Dr. Burgess volunteered to work in the U.K. World Reference Laboratory for Exotic Diseases during the 2001 U.K. foot and mouth disease crisis, where he led the diagnosis reporting office for the Office of Prime Minister Tony Blair. He was awarded the Institute for Animal Health Director's Award for Service.

In 2002, Dr. Burgess joined Mississippi State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine as an assistant professor. He was recruited from Mississippi State as a professor, associate dean, and director of the Institute for Genomics, Biocomputing and Biotechnology to lead the UArizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 2011.  

Between 1997 and 2011 he was research-active, with 190 refereed publications, 38 graduate students and nearly $55M in competitive funding.

Dr. Burgess is honored to lead the University of Arizona Division of Agriculture, Life and Veterinary Sciences, and Cooperative Extension as they advance their mission as part of a land-grant university by preparing students to be leaders and job creators, researching solutions to society's biggest challenges, and bringing the science of the university to the families and communities of Arizona.

Admin
Sylvia Ramirez
sramirez@arizona.edu