Beth Birnstihl Appointed to the National 4-H Council Team
Last week, Don Floyd, President and CEO of our National 4-H Council announced that Beth would become their Director of Mission to Market beginning July 15. This means she will lead mission mandate education programs to help ensure they are implemented through the 4-H system across the country. Beth will be in a partner role with 4-H Headquarters personnel, employees of the National 4-H Council, and the 4-H staff teams and land grant universities across the country.
Beth will do a lot of her new work from Nebraska, and in fact, will be returning to the office she had in Mussehl Hall before coming to Ag Hall some 20 plus years ago. In a sense, Beth has spent 41 years preparing for this national leadership role. She knows and understands county, state, and national operations; understands setting priorities; is really good at establishing and maintaining partnerships; values our 4-H program, extension work, and the differences we make; and in general – makes things happen. National 4-H Council will come to appreciate how fortunate we have been to have had Beth in our system for 41 years. We are very proud of Beth and pleased that Council will be using some of her strengths and passions to help strengthen our work.
Adding Beth to our National 4-H Council will make a difference to all of us. I am very honored to have had the opportunity to be a partner with Beth since 1991, and I am very, very pleased to see her in this national role. We wish her our very best as she continues our goal of having Nebraska Extension faculty in roles of national prominence.
The formal announcement from Council reads:
“ Dear Colleagues,
I would like to take the opportunity to welcome Dr. Beth Birnstihl to the National 4-H Council Team as Director, 4-H Mission to Market. This important work is a part of our Resource Development team. As you may know, Dr. Eddie Locklear will retire from this position on May 31, 2012.
Beth has spent 41 years with University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension, giving her a depth and breadth of experience that will help Council better serve the 4-H system. As co-chair of the National SET (Science) Mission Mandate Task Force, Beth worked directly with Dr. Eddie Locklear during his term as Director, Mission to Market. She observed the development of the Director position and is well prepared to move our work forward and ensure opportunities to reach young people across all of the 4-H Mission Mandates.
Beth's successes with the 4-H program in Nebraska and her regional and national leadership roles are numerous, extensive, and remarkable. She provided leadership for a statewide 4-H program that involves one in three Nebraska youth, recruited a team of 4-H Extension faculty that is known nationwide for high-quality education and focused Nebraska's 4-H programs on the issues most critical to Nebraskans. She will bring this visionary leadership and work ethic to her position at Council.
Beth will join our team on July 15th, upon her retirement from UNL Extension. Thank you for helping me welcome her to Council!
Best, Don Floyd, Jr., President and CEO National 4-H Council”
Congratulations!
At the 2012 National Conference on Urban Entomology held recently in Atlanta, GA, Shripat Kamble received the 2012 Distinguished Achievement Award. Congratulations to Shripat for this career achievement!
-- Elbert C. Dickey