PULLMAN, Wash. – Pete W. Jacoby Jr. assumed duties as Agriculture Program Director for Washington State University Extension and Associate Dean for Outreach for WSU’s College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences on Jan. 1.
The appointment was announced by Linda Kirk Fox, dean of Extension, and Dan Bernardo, dean of CAHNRS.
“Pete has a rich career history working in extension in various states and brings considerable knowledge to this appointment,” Fox said.
Jacoby, who has been associate dean for administration and planning in the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences since 1997, will be responsible for administration of CAHNRS faculty who have extension appointments related to agriculture and food systems.
In addition, he will be responsible for allocating budgets for extension agricultural programs and for collaborating with extension district directors to integrate county-area faculty teams with CAHNRS to focus on current and emerging issues.
He also will interact with department chairs and directors of CAHNRS research and extension centers across the state to define extension faculty responsibilities, serve as the primary administrative contact for the center directors for both CAHNRS and WSU Extension deans and work with the director of WSU’s Agricultural Research Center to facilitate and support interdisciplinary teams and integrating research and extension activities.
“The creation of this position acknowledges the need to more fully integrate the collective expertise within CAHNRS and WSU Extension to address the current and emerging issues facing this state’s agriculture,” Jacoby said.
“Together with my administrative colleagues, I expect to lead efforts to identify, prioritize and address key issues with the best expertise available. I look forward to working closely with leaders in agriculture to ensure agriculture remains an effective economic engine for the state of Washington.”
Jacoby came to WSU from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he had served as director of the West Central Research and Extension Center from 1993 to 1997. He has three degrees in range management; a bachelor’s from Texas A&M and masters and doctorate degrees from the University of Wyoming.
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