Rolston St. Hilaire, dean of the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology at Fresno State, was named to the California State Board of Food and Agriculture by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The board appointments are for four years. Members can be reappointed to their positions on the state board.

St. Hilaire became dean of Fresno State’s agricultural college in 2022 after serving as a plant science faculty and department head at New Mexico State University from 1998 to 2022, according to a statement from Fresno State.

St. Hilaire advocates for food security and serves as Fresno State’s principal investigator for the Southwest USDA Regional Food Business Center. In August 2025, he will begin a one-year appointment as the president of the American Society for Horticultural Science, an association he joined in 1996.

“This is a special honor for me because the board works with multiple aspects of sustainable agriculture, which is a concept we are equally committed to with our campus agricultural academic and research programs,” St. Hilaire said in a prepared statement. “California is known around the world as a leader in agricultural innovation and for trying to more effectively balance its resources among agricultural, urban and environmental needs.”

He earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree in horticulture from Iowa State University, and his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez. Each degree was in the horticulture field, and he received his department’s top of the class award as an undergraduate.

St. Hilaire joins Fresno County farmer and Fresno State alum Don Cameron on the state board, which serves as a 15-member advisory board to the governor and the secretary of agriculture. Cameron is the current board president. Fresno State alum Michael D. Gallo also serves on the state board. Gallo is co-owner and CEO of Joseph Gallo Farms, maker of Joseph Farms Cheese, based in Merced County.