Keith L. Smith

Associate Vice President, Agricultural Administration; Associate Dean, College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences; Director, Ohio State University Extension; and Gist Chair in Extension Education and Leadership

Dr. Keith L. Smith became the Director of Ohio State University Extension and Associate Dean of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University on July 1, 1992, and was last reappointed in 2004. On July 23, 1998, Dr. Smith was named as Associate Vice President for Agricultural Administration; and on July 1, 2006, he was appointed as Gist Chair in Extension Education and Leadership within the Department of Human and Community Resource Development (HCRD).

As Associate Vice President for Agricultural Administration, Dr. Smith extends his duties beyond the college as he interacts with the university and community at large as a representative of the Vice President. In his role as Associate Dean, he is responsible for recommendations to the Vice President for Agricultural Administration and Dean of the College about allocation of funds, selection, promotion, and remuneration of Extension personnel, and he provides leadership in both program and policy development. As Gist Chair in Extension Education and Leadership, Dr. Smith collaborates with Extension education faculty in mentoring faculty, and designing and conducting research and scholarship, especially in the area of leadership. He is also responsible for creating graduate and in-service programs for Extension to attract participants from across the nation and for developing seminal literature that will influence Extension education practice throughout the country.

A native of Utah, Dr. Smith received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural education from Utah State University in 1974 and 1976, respectively; and his Ph.D. in agricultural education from Iowa State University in 1980. Dr. Smith began his career in 1973 as an agriculture science teacher in Brigham City, Utah, followed by two years as a vocational agriculture teacher in Orem, Utah. He joined the Utah Cooperative Extension Service in 1976 as a county agent in Cache County, Utah. In 1978, he moved to Iowa State University as an instructor and Extension associate while working on his Ph.D. He came to OSU in 1980 as Extension leader for personnel development and assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Education.

Ken Martin

Associate Director, Programs; Department Chair, Extension

Dr. Martin is responsible for monitoring new funding opportunities for Extension program areas; serves as liaison for developing university relations; works with the assistant directors to ensure interdisciplinary implementation of issue-focused programming; provides administrative leadership for the development, implementation and monitoring of OSU Extension cost-recovery efforts; fosters technology-enhanced programming; and coordinates organizational reports to stakeholders. As the department chair, Dr. Martin also serves as a liaison with International Programs and the university community, as well as having responsibility for faculty appointments, leaves, the promotion and tenure process, and the activities of all regular faculty members.

Dr. Martin came to OSU Extension in 2005. Prior to that, he was a director of West Virginia University Extension’s Community, Economic, and Workforce Development program unit where he was responsible for program development, delivery, and evaluation in community resources and economic development. He previously served as associate dean in the Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences and director of the Extension Program Center for Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Community Development. He also held appointments as adjunct professor of sociology in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences and adjunct professor of resource management in the Davis College. Dr. Martin previously served as interim director of the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development (NERCRD) at The Pennsylvania State University where he was a senior research associate in Penn State’s Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology. He also directed the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health at Penn State for six years and served as a rural economic development specialist for three years. Dr. Martin holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Eastern Mennonite College; his master’s and doctoral degrees in rural sociology are from Penn State.