The National Council for Agricultural Education has appointed Travis Park the director of agricultural education, National FFA board chair and National FFA advisor.
Amendments to the National FFA Constitution and Bylaws adopted by the delegates at the 92nd National FFA Convention and Expo stipulated that it is now the responsibility of The Council to appoint this leadership position.Park replaced James Woodard, who stepped down in May of this year. Cheryl Zimmerman, the executive secretary, was serving as the interim advisor.
In this role, which began Jan. 1, Park will serve as chairperson of the National FFA board of directors, and provide oversight for the National FFA Organization, Indianapolis, Indiana. He will advise the National FFA officers, the board of directors, and the National FFA Delegates and committees on policy matters and help the national officers conduct meetings. In this three-year renewable role, he will co-direct the joint governance committee of the National FFA Organization and the National FFA Foundation Board of Trustees and serve as an advocate for issues affecting FFA and agricultural education stakeholders. As director of agricultural education, he will serve as an advisor to The Council and guide stakeholders in aligned strategic initiatives for agricultural education.
“I am humbled to be afforded this opportunity to serve agricultural education and the young people who are our future as national FFA advisor and director of agricultural education,” Park said. “The National FFA Organization has a rich history, and I am excited to see where the future leads us.”
Park is a professor of the Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at North Carolina State University. He served as the 1992-93 National FFA president and completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural education from Purdue University in 1996 and 2002. He taught high school agriculture at Tri-County High School in Wolcott, Indiana, for nearly six years, where the agriculture program and FFA chapter were recognized for excellence at the state and national levels. In 2005, he earned his doctoral degree in agricultural education from the University of Florida. After graduating, he served as an assistant and associate professor with tenure at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, from 2002 until 2013. In 2013, he relocated to North Carolina State University.
