HOUSTON — The Southern Rural Development Center has bestowed its 2024 Bonnie Teater Community Development Lifetime Achievement Award on Arkansas’ Stacey McCullough.
McCullough is assistant vice president-extension and head of the community, professional and economic development section of the Cooperative Extension Service. The extension service is the outreach arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
The Southern Rural Development Center has honored Stacey McCullough as the 2024 recipient of the Bonnie Teater Community Development Lifetime Achievement Award. McCullough currently serves as an assistant vice president for community, professional and economic development at University of Arkansas System-Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service and the drector of the Public Policy Center at UADA. She has over 20 years of experience working with community and economic development at the local, regional, institutional, and national levels. (Image courtesy Southern Rural Development Center)
“I am incredibly honored to receive this award. I can’t imagine a more fulfilling career than working alongside people and communities to achieve their goals and dreams,” McCullough said. “The relationships with my colleagues from the Southern Rural Development Center and across the Cooperative Extension System have allowed me to grow and contribute to society in so many ways.”
The award, named for a retired member of the Southern Rural Development Center staff, recognizes superior lifetime work by an individual who has made an important contribution to extension community development. It was presented at the National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals conference, held June 17-20 in Houston.
“Stacey exhibits all the characteristics that this award was designed to recognize,” said Deacue Fields, vice president-agriculture for the University of Arkansas System and head of its Division of Agriculture. “Her portfolio, including scholarship and community impact, demonstrates that she is highly deserving of this distinguished recognition.”
Fields noted, in particular, McCullough’s leadership.
“Whether working on projects, serving on committees, or spearheading the development of new programs and opportunities for communities, Stacey leads by example,” Fields said “She always puts her team first, stands beside her team, and encourages them to work hard. Her servant leadership inspires others to achieve greatness while making a lasting impact that matters.”
McCullough was nominated by Hunter Goodman, assistant professor-community, workforce, and economic development, for the extension service.
“Dr. McCullough embodies the land-grant mission to higher education and the unique calling of extension to impact the lives of people and communities through research and best practices along with community voice,” Goodman wrote in his nomination. Since 2005, McCullough has been a program associate, instructor, assistant professor, director, interim associate department head, and currently assistant vice-president.
McCullough earned a doctorate in public policy from the University of Arkansas in 2012. She has served as extension’s director of community, professional and economic development since May 2020 and was named assistant vice president in 2022.
“This is well-earned recognition for Dr. McCullough,” said John Anderson, head of the Cooperative Extension Service. “She has a long-standing reputation for quality, impactful work and for leadership among her peers in the field of community economic development. And she built that reputation while serving the needs of stakeholders right here in Arkansas.
“We are grateful to Dr. McCullough for her work on behalf of our organization and our state, and we are thrilled to see her contributions recognized by her peers with this prestigious honor,” he said.
In addition to her service, McCullough has helped develop numerous initiatives that focus on economic development, ballot issue education, and racial understanding. She has also served in active roles within several regional and national leadership organizations such as the Joint Council of Extension Professionals, National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals, and the Southern Region Program Leaders’ Network. McCullough’s experience has benefited the state of Arkansas with more than $3.5 million in grants.
To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk.