Governor  Sam Brownback has named a deputy Kansas secretary of agriculture to lead the department.

Brownback said in a release Monday that Jackie McClaskey will succeed Dale Rodman as secretary of the state’s Agriculture Department after Rodman steps down Dec. 10.

McClaskey has been with the department since January 2011, when she became an assistant secretary. She was named deputy secretary of the department in July. McClaskey, who grew up on a family farm in Girard, was assistant dean of the Kansas State University College of Agriculture before joining the Agriculture Department.

Rodman was appointed secretary of agriculture in January 2011. In July, he was elected chair of the Board of Directors of the Kansas Bioscience Authority, where he will continue to serve.