PRESS RELEASES

Academic Career & Executive Search (ACES) Places Dean, Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture Search at Stephen F. Austin State University

(October 14, 2026, WEST HARTFORD, CT) Following a national search, Academic Career & Executive Search (ACES), a leading higher education focused executive search firm, is pleased to announce the successful placement of Dr. Douglas Smith, securing the role as Dean of the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture at Stephen F. Austin State University.

Dr. Joe Douglas “Doug” Smith currently serves as chair, graduate program director and professor of SFA’s Department of Agriculture. Before joining SFA in 2023, he served as chair of agriculture education and animal science at the University of Nebraska’s College of Technical Agriculture. He holds a doctorate in agricultural education from Texas A&M University. Smith also helped raise $1.5 million for SFA’s new Forestry and Agriculture Building and Agricultural Engineering and Technology Building along with equipment, livestock and related support for agricultural programs. His research and workforce development experience includes an awarded $834,570 U.S. Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service Innovation Grant. Reporting to the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Smith will oversee the department chairs for Forestry, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences as well as administrative staff.

Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA), the newest member of The University of Texas System, began more than a century ago as a teachers’ college in Texas’s oldest town, Nacogdoches. Today, it has evolved into a comprehensive regional institution comprising six colleges and offering the academic breadth of a larger university with the personalized attention of a liberal arts experience.  Accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, SFA serves more than 11,000 students and plays a vital role in advancing educational access and opportunity across East Texas. The University is distinguished by its strong commitment to first-generation student success and its ability to connect academic programs with the needs of the region’s workforce and industries.  Set within a 421-acre campus in a pine forest environment, SFA integrates natural resources, applied learning, and community engagement into the student experience. Its broader footprint, including research centers, clinical facilities, and specialized program sites across more than 1,200 acres, supports hands-on education and applied research across disciplines.

Affordable Excellence 

Academic Career & Executive Search, a higher education focused search firm, specializes in affordable excellence, providing perfectly matched candidates to institutions quickly and accurately. Their methodologies, based on frequent touchpoints, pinpoint ideal candidates with speed and meticulous care resulting in highly successful placements.

They offer flexible service/pricing levels for all positions, ensuring affordability.

Contact Jennifer Muller, Managing Partner, at 860-740-2600 or Jennifer@ACESrch.com, or visit https://acesrch.com/.