04/22/24 - 117 New Stories - REAL Environmental & Conservation Leadership In PA: http://tinyurl.com/9bh4zbtr
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Russell Redding Named Dean Of Agriculture At Delaware Valley College
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Delaware Valley College has named Russell Redding, Secretary of Agriculture in the Rendell Administration, as Dean of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. “We consider ourselves extremely fortunate to have such a distinguished public figure transitioning to education at DelVal,” said President Joseph S. Brosnan. “The Commonwealth’s loss is our gain. Russell will focus on leadership and help us move forward with our new vision for the future.”
Redding starts immediately. He replaces Dean Judith Schwank, who is leaving to run for the state Senate in her home district of Berks County.
Discussions between the college and Redding started two years ago when the dean’s position first became vacant.
“Dr. Brosnan picked up where that conversation let off,” Redding said. “Much has changed in a very positive way since then. There are plans for a new life sciences center. A strategic plan calling for university status has been approved. And the college received the gift of the Gemmill Campus.”
The 398-acre campus in Jamison was part of a $30 million gift in September from the Warwick Foundation and the Gemmill family. Redding will help the college decide how to use the property, which is a working farm.
“The Gemmill Campus is a beautiful, highly productive piece of land,” he said. “The possibilities there are endless. We will try to find the appropriate intersection between production agriculture and academic programs.”
Redding served a total of 16 years in the State Department of Agriculture and was appointed secretary in 2009. He has an innate understanding of production agriculture, having worked on his family’s dairy farm in Gettysburg. For a time he ran his own dairy operation with his wife, Nina.
Russell is a Penn State graduate with a bachelor’s and master’s in Agriculture and Extension Education. He has been involved with Future Farmers of America for three decades and served as Vice President of the state organization.
As dean, Russell said he will concentrate on leadership, communications and outreach.
“The key is to keep the momentum going that Dr. Brosnan has established,” he said. “That means providing leadership for the agricultural programs, meeting with staff, managing the farm properties and reaching out to the broader agricultural community to find the proper place there for DelVal.”
Russell, his wife and two sons -- Garrison, 16, and Elliot, 15 -- make their home in Adams County, south of Carlisle.
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2/7/2011 |
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