Robert A. Easter

Robert A. Easter (born October 23, 1947) is an American animal scientist and university professor who served as the 19th president of the University of Illinois system from 2012 until 2015.

Early life and education Easter was born on October 23, 1947 in southwest Texas, where he was raised on a grain and livestock farm in La Pryor. His grandfather was a homesteader.

Easter graduated from La Pryor High School in 1966. From there, he enrolled in Texas A&M University, planning on pursuing a career in law.

In the winter of 1973, Easter and his wife Cheryl traveled to Urbana, Illinois for Easter to pursue a PhD program at the College of Agriculture, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The couple planned to return to Texas once Robert's PhD program was complete.

As a graduate student, Easter excelled, catching the attention of the college's faculty. When a lecturer left Illinois to take a job at Purina, the position was offered to Easter, who declined a position at Texas A&M to take the spot at Illinois.

Academic career Freshly out of graduate school, Easter began his career at the University of Illinois in the fall semester of 1976 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Animal Sciences. As department head, he played a major role in the construction of the Funk Agriculture library.

Easter's research focused on swine agriculture, and in 1997, he co-authored a book on the pork industry of China, an agricultural staple he traveled to study most summers during his tenure at Illinois.

In 2002, Easter was named as dean of the College of ACES.

Easter remained as interim Chancellor until mid-2011, when Phyllis Wise was hired into the position. Wise then asked Easter, once more, to stay at the University in an interim position, as the vice chancellor for research. Kennedy turned to Easter to fill the position, who took over immediately as President-Designate.

Easter lives in Mahomet, Illinois with his wife Cheryl on an acreage with fruit trees.