By Sharon Dowdy
University of
Georgia

Bleckley County Extension agent Kathy Baldwin was among the six University of Georgia faculty members honored Tuesday, Oct. 7 in Athens, Ga., during the annual D.W. Brooks Lecture and Faculty Awards for Excellence ceremony.

Presented by the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the Brooks awards are in honor and memory of Gold Kist Inc. founder D.W. Brooks. A CAES alumnus, Brooks advised seven U.S. presidents on agriculture and trade issues. Although he died in 1999, his promotion of agriculture lives on through the Brooks awards.

Baldwin received the D.W. Brooks Faculty Award for Excellence in Public Service Extension. Other 2008 honorees include Joseph McHugh, teaching; Michael Strand, research; Jeanna Wilson, extension; Tim Williams, global programs; and Clifton Baile, distinguished professor.

Because of her 4-H experience, Baldwin knew from the time she was a senior in high school that she wanted to someday be a county extension agent. After graduating from Auburn University, she realized her dream by working with Alabama Cooperative Extension.

A few years later, she moved to Georgia where, for the past 24 years, she has been an agent in Bleckley County. During her first few years with University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, she completed her Master of Public Administration degree at Georgia College and State University.

For seven years, she had a split 4-H and Family and Consumer Sciences assignment before becoming a 4-H agent and lead 4-H agent in a cluster of counties in 1991. She works daily to encourage the 750 4-H’ers she leads to be the best they can be.

During her tenure, 35 of her 4-H members have become master 4-H’ers. Five have become county extension agents and one is currently employed on the state 4-H staff.

Baldwin is recognized by her local school system as a partner in education. She was instrumental in securing funding for a community collaborative that addresses the problems families and children face. She has served in numerous community and professional leadership positions, including chair of the local United Way board, chair of the Community Collaborative, president of the Georgia Association of Family and Consumer Sciences and poster sessions chair for the 2007 NAE4-HA National Conference.

(Sharon Dowdy is a news editor with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.)