Levon Esters

Levon T. Esters is the Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate School at The Pennsylvania State University. Levon also holds the position of Adjunct Professor in the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell University as well as a Senior Research Associate at the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions. Levon is a nationally recognized scholar on mentoring, equity, and diversity in STEM-based agricultural and life sciences disciplines. His research focuses on issues of equity and access of marginalized and minoritized students with a concentration on the mentoring needs of Black graduate students, the STEM career development of students attending Historically Black Land Grant Universities, and educational and professional mobility and development of Black graduate students and faculty. Levon is among a few Black scholars in the United States conducting research in these areas and has been able to serve as a role model for Black graduate students who are committed to broadening the participation of marginalized and minoritized students in the Ag+STEM disciplines. `

Levon earned his B.S. in Agricultural Business from Florida A&M University, his M.S. in Agricultural Education from North Carolina A&T State University, and his Ph.D. in Agricultural and Extension Education from The Pennsylvania State University.