3:47 p.m., Oct. 30, 2009----Gordon Johnson, a University of Delaware Cooperative Extension agriculture agent, and Debby Boyer, the director of School-Age Initiatives at UD's Center for Disabilities Studies, received the 2009 Ratledge Family Awards for Delaware Public Service on Tuesday, Oct. 27.

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At the award ceremony, which was held at the Roselle Center for the Arts, Peg Bradley, the director of the Early Learning Center and the Laboratory Preschool, spoke about the value and importance of public service. “Public service outreach fulfills each of the five guiding principles of our University's Path to Prominence,” said Bradley.

The Ratledge family, Delawareans who trace their roots back to the 1700s, established the award, which reflects the family's long commitment to the state of Delaware and to the University of Delaware. The award recognizes significant public service by members of the UD community that contributes to the well-being of all Delawareans. Preference is given to members of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the College of Education and Public Policy.

The award was endowed in 2002 and the first recipients were named in 2004.

Gordon Johnson

“Gordon Johnson understands contemporary agriculture,” said Robin W. Morgan, dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. “He is not an individual grasping to preserve the past but rather is someone who imagines a future arising out of science, technology, and creativity coupled with individual opportunity.”

She made note of the fact that his agricultural meetings often attract crowds waiting to get into the room. “Gordon represents the best of university outreach, bridging generations and integrating ideas,” added Morgan.

Throughout his life, Johnson has been a champion of the Extension mission of providing educational outreach. He began his career as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Republic of Seychelles where he provided instruction on nursery production, dairy science and vegetable science. He then worked as a research scientist for private industry before joining UD in 1994 as the horticultural and specialty crop agent for Cooperative Extension. He later became the agriculture agent for Kent County.

He also had held statewide duties as dairy Extension coordinator, ag program leader, small farms contact and Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) professional development coordinator. Currently, he is a Ph.D candidate in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at UD, with an expected graduation date of February 2010.

In his outreach, Johnson stays on the cutting edge of all available technologies and was the first Extension employee in the state to develop Web blogs, one of which is devoted to crop production, the other to ornamental horticulture. He also has been a prolific grant writer, securing nearly 30 grants in the last decade.

Johnson is known throughout Extension for his prodigious work ethic. Jan Seitz, associate dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and director of UD Cooperative Extension, said that “Gordon's normal level of Extension programming is beyond any Extension educator that I've worked with, and I've worked directly with Extension agents in eight states.”

Farmers and growers throughout the state turn to Johnson for help and advice on a daily basis. In a letter supporting Johnson's nomination for the Ratledge Award, David Marvel, Jr., current president of the Delaware Fruit and Vegetable Association, wrote: “Farming is no longer your father's farming; it is high-tech, fast-paced and ever-changing. Gordon makes a point -- a mission -- to keep us informed of the latest and greatest trends and products to keep our small state competitive.”

Debby Boyer

In her eight-year tenure as director of School-Age Initiatives at the Center for Disabilities Studies at UD, Boyer has provided leadership to the Positive Behavior Support Project, the Access to General Education Committee, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, and Delaware Alternative Portfolio Assessment projects.

Boyer has been instrumental in implementing the vision of the Positive Behavior Support (PBS) Project to create safe and caring learning environments that promote the social-emotional and academic development of children with behavioral difficulties, as well as children without such difficulties.

More than 60 percent of Delaware public and charter schools have now received professional development training in PBS methodologies. As a result, Boyer has had an impact on more than 80,000 students, 4,000 teaching staff and 30,000 families throughout the state.

School principals and members of the Delaware Department of Education, including Martha Toomey, director of special education, have lauded Boyer for her approachable training style, her effective and efficient technical assistance, and her ability to document the impact of intervention.

In her acceptance speech, Boyer noted that her personal philosophy is to “find the good and praise it.”

“In working with students with disabilities, my practices are more effective when I look at the strengths of an individual rather than the weaknesses,” said Boyer.

“Debby Boyer is an outstanding public servant,” said Michael Gamel-McCormick, dean of the College of Education and Public Policy. “In fact, she is the best kind of public servant; one who values research and scholarship, implements that research into practice and is able to train large groups of providers to change and enhance their practices.”

“She has been responsible for making the climate of schools safer and more conducive to the learning necessary in a high stakes education environment,” added Gamel-McCormick. “This level of service is extraordinary and is precisely the type of continued, long-term public service to the state that is needed and is so rarely realized.”

Article by Margo McDonough
Photo by Danielle Quigley