Krysta Harden, former United States Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and current president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, will be the speaker for the 2024 D.W. Brooks Lecture and Awards, an annual event hosted by the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. From her parents’ farm in Camilla, Georgia, all the way to Capitol Hill, Harden has been a strong advocate for agriculture.

For Yangxuan Liu, her career as an associate professor of agricultural and applied economics feels like equal parts coincidence and fate. “I was initially involved in agriculture because of my family farm in China. During breaks from school as a child, I would go visit my grandparents and work in their fields where they grow corn, wheat, cotton and other crops. This really gave me respect for the value of working the ground,” Liu said.

Accomplished 4-H youth and the adults who empower them gathered at the 81st Georgia 4-H State Congress in Atlanta July 23-26. The weeklong event for top 4-H’ers features state-level Project Achievement and Leadership in Action competitions and recognizes youth development professionals and community supporters contributing to the success of 4-H in Georgia. More than 200 youth delegates competed in 50 Project Achievement areas and eight youth delegates competed in the Leadership in Action contest during annual event.

For Joseph McHugh, a career as an entomologist was never in question: He became fascinated by insects and their diversity in grade school and his passion never wavered. This year, his internationally recognized leadership in the field he loves was rewarded as he was named the Herbert H. and Jean A. Ross Memorial Distinguished Professor of Insect Systematics and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

An innovator in peanut breeding whose research revitalized an industry and an ardent champion of agricultural education were inducted into the Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame at the 68th University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Alumni Association Awards in Athens. The 2024 honorees are William D. Branch, Georgia Seed Development Professor in Peanut Breeding and Genetics in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, and Elzie Argene Claxton, an agriculture educator and 1980 CAES agricultural education graduate.

Seven alumni from the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences will be recognized at the 68th annual CAES Alumni Association Awards banquet on April 6. Two Georgia agricultural leaders will be inducted into the Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame at the event, hosted at the Classic Center in Athens. “Georgia’s No. 1 industry — agriculture — is that because of the people that are part of the industry,” said Becca Turner, CAES Alumni Association board president.

Two faculty members in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and UGA Cooperative Extension were named to the Fruit and Vegetable 40 under 40 Class of 2023. The award ceremony will be held during the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable and Farm Market EXPO on Tuesday, Dec. 5, at the DeVos Place Convention Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

For Dean Kopsell, newly appointed associate dean for academic affairs for the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, moving to Athens is like coming home. Currently professor and chair of the Environmental Horticulture Department at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Kopsell, a two-time UGA alumnus and devoted Georgia Bulldog fan, is eager to return to the Classic City and excited about the opportunity to serve his alma mater and the students of CAES.

Francisco Diez-Gonzalez, director of the University of Georgia Center for Food Safety, has been elected as a fellow into the prestigious American Academy of Microbiology. Diez-Gonzalez was one of 65 new fellows admitted in the Class of 2023 out of a nomination pool of 148.