Department Head Garey Fox was named to the 2020 class of ASABE Fellows. The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) defines a Fellow as a member of unusual professional distinction, with outstanding and extraordinary qualifications and experience in, or related to, the field of agricultural, food, or biological systems engineering. ASABE Fellows possess a minimum of 20 years of active practice in, or related to, the profession of engineering; the teaching of engineering; or the teaching of an engineering-related curriculum and a minimum of 20 years as an active Member-Engineer or Member in ASABE.

This is ASABE’s highest honor.

Garey A. Fox, PE, professor and department head of the biological and agricultural engineering department at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, is being honored for his leadership and outstanding contributions to teaching, research, and extension in agricultural and biological engineering.

Fox is recognized as an innovative leader in agricultural and biological engineering. He has served in numerous academic leadership positions, first as the Director of the Oklahoma Water Resources Center at Oklahoma State University and now as department head of biological and agricultural engineering at North Carolina State University. During his tenure as department head, the undergraduate and graduate biological and agricultural engineering programs have risen to #6 and #4 respectively, as ranked by the US News and World Report.

Fox is a leading researcher in surface water/groundwater interaction as it relates to both hydrology and water quality. He has received more than $27.1 million in nationally competitive grants from the National Science Foundation, the USDA, United States EPA, and the United State Geological Survey.

A 23-year member of ASABE, Fox has maintained numerous leadership roles throughout ASABE committees and councils. In 2019, Fox was selected to be the first Editor-in-Chief of ASABE journals. In this role, he is tasked with strengthening ASABE publications and helping the journals move the Society forward. Fox is also on the Society Board of Trustees. Fox has also been an active member and leader of the Oklahoma Water Resources Center and Oklahoma Water Resources Research Institute, Cohort 14 of Food Systems Leadership Institute, and the American Society of Civil Engineers Environmental and Water Resources Institute (ASCE EWRI). He is currently a member of the ASCE ERWI Stream Restoration technical committee. Fox has also served as an associate editor for the Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, a guest editor for a Special Collection on Undergraduate Research in Water for the Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education, and as a special guest editor for the Special Collection on Streambank Erosion for the journal Water.

Fox has written more than 400 peer-reviewed articles, conference proceedings papers, and other publications and presentations. Throughout his career, Fox has received numerous awards. Most recently, he received the ASABE ADS/Hancor Soil and Water Engineering award and the Oklahoma Medal for Excellence in Research University Teaching for the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence.