Dr. Steve Isaacs receives award

Nonesuch farmer and UK professor Steve Isaacs was awarded the Outstanding Leadership Program Director Award during the annual meeting of IAPAL (International Association of Programs for Agricultural Leaders) in San Antonio in early October. Dr. Isaacs shares the award with Dr. Will Snell, his colleague in the Department of Agricultural Economics, with whom he co-directs the Kentucky Agricultural Leadership Program (KALP). This program was formerly known as the Philip Morris Leadership program. When Philip Morris scaled back their involvement in the program in 2007, Dr. Isaacs and Dr. Snell took responsibility for directing and raising funds for the program. The award was presented at the annual conference by Dr. Larry Van De Valk, Executive Director of the LEAD New York Program and Dr. Edmond Bonjour, Director of the Oklahoma Agricultural Leadership Program, previous award recipients. Dr. Joe Waldrum, Executive Secretary of IAPAL, said, “Drs. Isaacs and Snell received this honor for their commitment to programming excellence, superior communication skills, and dedication to training emerging rural leaders in Kentucky. They are both highly respected by their IAPAL peers in their work with leaders and leadership development. We are delighted and proud to acknowledge publicly their talent and impacts with this prestigious award.” Nearly 300 leaders have graduated from the program since it was initiated by Phillip Morris in 1985. Many agricultural leaders, both elected officials and volunteers, serving across the commonwealth are graduates of this program. Graduates from Woodford County include Curtis Congleton, Travis Fritz, Hampton “Hoppy” Henton, Lynn Martin, Donald Mitchell, Jeff Pendleton, Rusty Thompson and Rick Wallin. Dan Miller is in the current KALP cohort.