2026-2027 Graduate Council Members

Student Affairs Committee

Chair: Lotta Larson - Curriculum and Instruction
Co-chair: Michael Veeman - Biology

• Cameron Leader-Picone* - English
• Christy Craft - Graduate School Faculty Associate
• Mekin Elcioglu - Interior Architecture and Industrial Design
• Terry Felderhoff - Agronomy
• Brandon Garcia* - Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics
• Vydehi Gadiparthi* - President-Elect, Graduate Student Council
• Tricia Jenkins - Applied and Interdisciplinary Studies
• Valentina Trinetta - Food, Nutrition, Dietetics, and Health

Committee on Planning

Chair: Douglas Walker - Marketing
Co-chair: TBD

• Christy Craft - Graduate School Faculty Associate
• Siny Joseph - Integrated Studies
• Jun Li - Chemistry
• Phillip Payne - Interim Dean of Graduate School
• Daniel Rolles - Physics
• Andrew Wefald - Leadership Communications
• Nellie Hill-Sullins* - Communications and Agricultural Education
• T. G. Nagaraja - Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology

Assessment and Review Committee

Chair: Umut Yucel - Food Science Institute
Co-chair: Adam Ahlers - Horticulture and Natural Resources

• Christy Craft - Graduate School Faculty Associate
• Ursula Emery-McClure - Architectural Engineering and Construction Science
• Judy Gordon - Architecture
• Charles “Chip” Pickens - Psychological Sciences
• Lydia Yang - Special Education, Counseling, and Student Affairs
• Anna Zemlyanova* - Mathematics

Academic Affairs Committee

Chair: Hulya Dogan - Grain Science and Industry
Co-chair: Bruce Schultz - Anatomy and Physiology

• Torben Amtoft - Computer Science
• Marne Arthaud-Day - Management
• Christy Craft - Graduate School Faculty Associate
• Alexa Heseltine - President, Graduate Student Council
• Travis Linnemann - Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work
• Susmita Rishi - Landscape Architecture and Regional & Community Planning
• Mingjun Wei - Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering
• Farhan Sadique* - Educational Leadership

Academic Affairs and Innovation Representative

• Janice Nikkel

K-State Libraries Representative

• Livia Olsen

* Indicates new Council member for 2026-2027 academic year

Council Representatives by Academic Area

The Graduate Faculty is organized into Academic Areas for the purposes of electing representatives to the Graduate Council. These Academic Areas, which form constituencies for representation to Graduate Council, ensure that educational and scholarly variety between disciplines is represented in all Graduate Council deliberations. The Graduate Faculty members also have membership in colleges.