INDIANAPOLIS (Wednesday, May 13, 2012/National FFA Organization) – Dr. Steve A. Brown has earned undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees in agricultural education. He’s taught agriculture and advised FFA chapters for years in his home state of Missouri before jumping into state government roles.
Today, Brown serves as an educational program specialist in agriculture, food and natural resources with the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C. and is the National FFA Organization’s top advisor.
And he’s been named one of the most influential leaders in American agriculture.
In citing Brown one of the seven most compelling people in U.S. agriculture, CropLife noted his work as head of FFA and the major role he has played in the advancement of agricultural education. The agriculture retail magazine, published by Willoughby, Ohio-headquartered CropLife Media Group, said Brown was an individual “with the leadership to responsibly and creatively influence the future” in a story published May 2.
Brown was appointed national advisor of the National FFA Organization and chairman of the national FFA board of directors by the U.S. Department of Education in 2011. His primary responsibilities include leading FFA, serving as chairman of its board of directors and guiding national FFA officers, delegates and committees on policy matters. He previously served as national FFA executive secretary from 2008 until being appointed national advisor.
Brown’s 30 years of service to agricultural education include serving as the Missouri state FFA executive secretary, a district supervisor in agricultural education for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and an FFA advisor at the Macon Area Career and Technical Center in Macon, Mo., where he taught agriculture. Originally from Orrick, Mo., he received a doctorate in agricultural education and undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Missouri at Columbia.
Others who made the CropLife list of the top influential agriculture leaders are Monsanto president, chairman and CEO Hugh Grant; U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack; PotashCorp president and CEO Bill Doyle; Deere and Co. chairman and CEO Samuel R. Allen; National Corn Growers Association chairman Bart Schott; and CropLife America president and CEO Jay Vroom.
The National FFA Organization provides leadership, personal growth and career success training through agricultural education to 540,379 student members in grades seven through 12 who belong to one of 7,489 local FFA chapters throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
