UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State Cooperative Extension has named Nina Redding of Aspers as county extension director in Cumberland County, effective immediately. Redding replaces Duane Duncan, who is retiring after 45 years of service to cooperative extension.

"Nina brings personal experience and professional understanding and dedication to the total extension program," says Michelle Rodgers, director of Penn State Cooperative Extension's Capital Region. "Her strong organizational and leadership skills will continue the traditions and pioneer new initiatives for Penn State Cooperative Extension in Cumberland County, the region and the state."

Redding joined Penn State Cooperative Extension in 1988 as a family living extension agent based in Adams County. She was responsible for planning, implementing and evaluating nonformal educational programs in the areas of life skills, food safety, foods and nutrition, early childhood education for childcare providers, family resource management and staff development.

For six years in the 1980s, Redding taught family and consumer sciences in the South Western School District in Hanover, the Gettysburg Area School District, the Upper Adams School District in Biglerville and the Ithaca, N.Y., City School District. She also served as a pre-school teacher at the South Hills Child Care Center in Ithaca.

From 1983 to 1987, she also was co-owner of Nirus Hollow Farm, where she managed the health of a small Holstein dairy herd, handled financial records and assisted with milking and feeding. Redding received a bachelor's degree in home economics education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1982 and a master's degree in training and development from Penn State Harrisburg in 2000. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, the Pennsylvania Joint Council of Cooperative Extension Professionals, and Epsilon Sigma Phi Extension Professionals Association.

She has won numerous awards and honors, including several state and national media awards from the Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, the Gettysburg Branch of the American Association of University Women Outstanding Woman of the Year Award, the Upper Adams Jaycees Young Citizen of the Year Award and the Helen Bell Graduate Studies Scholarship.

Penn State Cooperative Extension is a nonformal, community-based educational resource, funded cooperatively by state and county governments and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Each year, more than 2 million people participate in Penn State Cooperative Extension programs in agriculture; natural resources and environmental management; 4-H/youth development; community resources and economic development; family development and resource management; leadership and volunteer development; and nutrition, diet and health.

To learn more, contact the Cumberland County extension office at (717) 240-6500; or visit the Web at http://www.extension.psu.edu for program information and links to county sites.

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EDITORS: For more information, contact Nina Redding at (717) 240-6500 or Michelle Rodgers at (717) 948-6326.

Contact:

Chuck Gill cdg5@psu.edu 814-863-2713 814-863-9877 fax #248