Rich Bonanno, vice provost for Outreach and Engagement and associate dean and director of NC State Extension in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, will leave NC State in late August. He will become the executive director for the Association of Southern Region Extension Directors (ASRED).
Bonanno is also a professor of horticulture in the Department of Horticultural Science. He has served as vice provost for Outreach and Engagement since January 2023. In that role, he has worked with Outreach and Engagement staff, the Engagement Operations Council and other key community partners, faculty and staff to support the unit’s mission and vision, achieve strategic goals and build a legacy of leadership and service.
“I want to offer my sincerest thanks to Rich for his leadership in Outreach and Engagement, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and universitywide, and wish him the best in his future endeavors,” said Arden. “While we are sad to see him leave NC State, we know that ASRED will be in excellent hands under his direction.”
Bonanno received a bachelor of science in agronomy, along with a master of science in vegetable crops/weed science from Cornell University, and a doctorate in horticulture and physiology from Oregon State University. He first came to NC State as a faculty member from 1983 to 1989, serving as an Extension weed specialist and CALS researcher for vegetable crops. He then moved to Massachusetts where he owns and operates a farm north of Boston specializing in fresh market vegetables, bedding plants and vegetable transplants. In addition, he was an adjunct professor and Extension educator with the University of Massachusetts. Bonanno returned to NC State as associate dean and director of Extension in 2016.
He has been the chair of ASRED, and is a board member of the National Coalition for Food and Agricultural Research, the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU) Committee on Legislation and Policy and the APLU Extension Committee on Policy. He is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Horticultural Science, the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology and Sigma Xi. Bonanno is both a member and fellow of the Northeastern Weed Science Society and the Weed Science Society of North America.
“It has been an honor to work with our colleagues and communities across the university and our vast Extension network,” Bonanno says. “I will be at meetings and field days across the state this summer. I look forward to seeing many of my friends and wishing them continued success with their work.”
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Dean Garey Fox and Provost Arden are working together in moving forward with the vice provost position. Details will be shared at a later date.
This post was originally published in Provost's Office News.
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