Larry Turner Named New Leader for Cooperative Extension

If it weren’t for a bend in the Ohio River, Indiana native Larry Turner would have been born a Kentuckian. That’s because his father’s farm near the little town of Rising Sun was only a stone’s throw across the water from the Bluegrass state.

As fortune would have it, he became a Kentuckian anyway. Twenty-three years ago Turner moved to Lexington to accept a position with the UK College of Agriculture and the rest, as the saying goes, is history.
Last November he was named UK’s new Associate Director and Associate Dean for Extension, meaning he now leads the state’s 400-agent Cooperative Extension Service. Turner’s mission is a vital one for his College and for his state.
“I’m extremely pleased by the selection of Dr. Turner to this crucially important leadership position,” said M. Scott Smith, Dean of the College of Agriculture. “He has the experience, the understanding of the issues, the communication skills, and the vision necessary to lead our state’s Cooperative Extension Service into the 21st Century.”

Turner, 47, joined UK in 1978 as an Extension agricultural engineer and faculty member in energy management and conservation. Since 1999 he has chaired UK’s Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Department, administering an annual budget of more than $5 million. He views Kentucky’s Cooperative Extension system as the combination of three critically important parts: people, programs and partnerships.

“Extension’s primary goal should be improving the lives of Kentucky’s people,” he said. “Our programs for agriculture and natural resources, family and consumer sciences, 4-H/youth, and community development are needed now more than ever.” Turner said effective programming requires support for the people who deliver those programs.
“This means supporting our county agents and staff, our specialists and state staff, and all the people who assist their efforts,” he said. “We should clearly define our programs with consensus from our local councils and other interest groups, and enhance the development of partnerships.”

While Turner believes Kentucky Cooperative Extension faces many challenges, he also believes challenges can lead to unique opportunities.

He said one of the challenges is making sure Extension has the resources available to serve its clientele. An example is the recent approval of funding for the Health Education through Extension Leadership (HEEL) partnership, an initiative that will allow Extension professionals to partner with experts in the UK College of Medicine to improve and support ongoing health education projects in Kentucky.

“Through HEEL we will have a new level of access to expertise — the Preventive Medicine Department of the College of Medicine — and that will give us the same kind of subject matter support that we’ve traditionally had in other areas,” Turner said. “With HEEL we have an opportunity for preparing programs at the state level to address critical health issues and help people at the local level.”

Turner led multi-state, multi-disciplinary efforts in development of a swine growth computer model now used in four states. Under his leadership, the Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Department increased external research and Extension grants from an annual level of $250,000 in 1999 to more than $4 million in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
Turner’s wife of 25 years, Lois, is a junior high math teacher. The couple has three children: Molly, 21; Amy, 17; and Clay, 14.

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Education

B.S. — Agricultural Engineering, Purdue University, 1976
M.S. — Agricultural Engineering, Purdue University, 1978
Ph.D. — Agricultural Engineering, University of Kentucky, 1984

Professional Experience

1978-1980 Extension Agricultural Engineer, University of Kentucky
1980-1981 Vice President, Turner Farms, Inc., and Consulting Engineer, Turner Engineering, Rising Sun, Indiana
1981-1984 Research Specialist, UK
1984-1989 Assistant Extension Professor, UK
1992-1993 Visiting Scientist, Silsoe Research Institute, Silsoe, Bedford, England
1989-1994 Associate Extension Professor, UK
1994-1999 Extension Professor, UK
1999-2001 Chair, Department of Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering, UK
2002 Associate Director and Associate Dean for Extension, UK