Daney Jackson, associate director of Penn State Cooperative Extension, has been named director of cooperative extension, university associate vice president for outreach, and associate dean in the College of Agricultural Sciences, effective August 1. Jackson replaces Theodore Alter, who is stepping down after seven years in the position.

“I am very excited to have Daney Jackson join the Penn State Outreach leadership team,” says Craig Weidemann, Penn State vice president for outreach. “His broad understanding of the outreach and cooperative extension mission and his extensive experience with outreach and extension at both Ohio State and Penn State will be invaluable as we pursue innovative ways to share Penn State’s research-based knowledge and programming with our constituents throughout the commonwealth.”

Cooperative extension, with offices in each of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, transfers research-based information to individuals, families, businesses, and communities through educational programs designed to meet locally identified needs. Jackson will have responsibility for cooperative extension’s program planning; budget, facilities, and human resource management; and government, industry, and constituent relations. He will report to both the dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and to the vice president for outreach.

“Daney Jackson’s extensive experience in the land-grant university system will be of great value as he provides leadership for cooperative extension and outreach in our college and throughout the University,” says Robert Steele, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences. “His increasingly responsible positions at the county, regional, and state levels give him the knowledge and understanding needed to help cooperative extension remain a vibrant, relevant, and essential outreach educational force in the commonwealth.”

Before joining Penn State as associate director of extension in 2003, Jackson served for three years as statewide personnel leader for Ohio State University Extension, directing human resources functions such as needs assessment, job analysis, job design, performance management, recruitment, hiring, compensation, and benefits. From 1995 to 2000, he was director of the organization’s 16-county South District.

Jackson began his extension career in 1985 with Mississippi State University, serving as a 4-H youth agent in Hancock County. From 1987 to 1991, he was an agriculture and natural resources extension agent in Lauderdale County, Miss.
After a year as a graduate associate at Ohio State University Extension’s Ohio Center for Action on Coalition Development, Jackson returned to Mississippi Cooperative Extension, serving Lauderdale and Kemper Counties as an area extension agent for forestry and horticulture from 1992 to 1994.

He is a member of several professional organizations, including the national extension honorary society Epsilon Sigma Phi, the National Association of Leadership Educators, the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education, and the National Association of Extension 4-H Agents, which recognized him with its 1993 Achievement in Service Award.

Jackson received dual bachelor’s degrees in forestry/banking and finance and a master’s degree in extension education from Mississippi State University in 1984 and 1990, respectively. He earned his doctorate in agricultural education from The Ohio State University in 1994.

—Chuck Gill