COLUMBUS — Roger Rennekamp, associate dean and director of Ohio State University Extension, will bring his 40-year career in Cooperative Extension to a close July 31. Rennekamp has served since 2016 as the 12th leader of OSU Extension, which has an office in each of Ohio’s 88 counties.
“Dr. Rennekamp has forged a large number of new partnerships that have served to heighten awareness of Extension’s mission among both internal and external stakeholders,” said Cathann A. Kress, vice president for agricultural administration and dean of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
Accomplishments
Some of his other accomplishments while at OSU Extension have included increasing the starting salary for Extension educators, streamlining the promotion process for nonfaculty educators, initiating Ohio State’s Community Engagement Conference, and creating an Extension internship program. Additionally, Rennekamp was responsible for using an issue-based framework for communicating the value of Extension, bringing a renewed focus on talent development within the organization, and introducing a new videoconferencing platform that allowed for enhanced communication and saved Extension personnel both time and money. Rennekamp was also responsible for the Extension Endowment Initiative, which resulted in record-breaking philanthropic support for OSU Extension.
Background
He earned his bachelor’s from the University of Kentucky, his master’s from Morehead State University, and his doctorate from Ohio State. During his career, Rennekamp has held a variety of positions at land-grant universities, beginning as a county Extension agent in Kentucky in 1979, then working as a program specialist in program and staff development at the University of Kentucky. Since 2005, he has served exclusively in administrative positions, first as state 4-H program leader and department head in the College of Education at Oregon State University. He later served as the associate dean for outreach and engagement at Oregon State’s College of Public Health and Human Sciences immediately before his current role at Ohio State.
Kress plans to announce an interim director of OSU Extension soon.
Leadership appointments
Kress also recently announced the following leadership appointments:
• Tim Haab as chair of the Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences department of agricultural, environmental, and development economics and as the college’s inaugural dean’s chair;
• Tracy Kitchel as Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences associate dean for faculty and staff affairs;
• Andrew (Dewey) Mann as director of the college’s Waterman Agricultural and Natural Resources Laboratory;
• Scott Shearer as chair of the college’s department of food, agricultural and biological engineering; and
• James (Jamie) Strange as chair of the college’s department of entomology.
