The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture and Pendergrass Library welcome Dr. Richard Clark, the new leader of Tennessee 4-H, the youth development program for UT Extension, and Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication (ALEC), a department in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. The service-oriented and academic units have been merged in an effort to better serve Tennessee youth.

“I’ve been involved in 4-H and ag education in some capacity for almost my entire career,” says Clark. “The new department of 4-H and ALEC has the opportunity to serve as a model for other universities impacting the lives of young people from elementary school through college. 4-H and ALEC have a common, underlying youth development and education knowledge base which makes this merger ideal.”

Clark will provide leadership to the state 4-H staff in Knoxville and county 4-H agents all across the state. He will also serve in an academic capacity, developing curriculum for faculty and students at UTIA.

“My first goal is to inspire students of all ages to reach for their dreams and empower them with the knowledge and skills necessary to be successful in life,” says Clark. “The second goal is for the department to become a national leader in scholarship related to youth development in both non-formal and formal education.”

Previously, Clark worked at the University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, where he served as Associate Director of Agricultural Education from 2009 to this year. He also led the 4-H program during that time as Interim Director.

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