South Dakota 4-H leader named to National 4-H Hall of Fame

A longtime South Dakota 4-H leader has won a place in the National 4-H Hall of Fame.

V. Joseph McAuliffe, South Dakota 4-H’s program leader from 1977 through 1984, received the honor at a ceremony Oct. 10 at the National 4-H Conference Center in Chevy Chase, MD. A number of South Dakota 4-H supporters took part in the ceremony. Gov. Mike Rounds honored McAuliffe, naming Oct. 10 as V. Joseph McAuliffe Day in South Dakota.

Although his career in 4-H started in his hometown of Kerhonkson, NY, McAuliffe served as a 4-H agent in New York, South Dakota, and Minnesota. He currently resides in Shoreview, MN, with his wife, June.

In addition to his state service as program leader, he served as a national 4-H program leader with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the program and services director for the National 4-H Council, and as a professor with the University of Minnesota Cooperative Extension Service.

He provided oversight of the J.C. Penney Hall at the National 4-H Center, helped lead the Kellogg Foundation-funded national 4-H staff development program, and worked to establish the Center for Youth Development and Research at the University of Minnesota.

South Dakotans who attended the ceremony included McAuliffe’s SDSU 4-H department staff from 1977 through 1984: Nancy Swanson, executive director of the South Dakota 4-H Foundation; Mary Ellen Aamot, professor and Extension educator emerita; Richard Howard, professor and Extension educator emeritus, and his spouse, Jane Howard; and Carolyn Clague, associate professor and Extension educator emerita, and her spouse, Dennis Hopfinger.

Swanson cites McAuliffe’s long-lasting influence.

“Those of us who worked for Joe on the state 4-H staff were forever impacted by his visionary leadership,” said Swanson. “While we all have different roles with 4-H today, we are still guided, over 20 years later, by the principles he taught us in 4-H youth development and volunteerism.”

Clague, a former South Dakota 4-H youth development and 4-H Extension educator, said McAuliffe’s work in South Dakota is worthy of note.

“The South Dakota Cooperative Extension Service and 4-H program, along with the New York State Extension Service, was pleased to nominate Joe,” she said. “Joe is well-deserving of this highest 4-H honor, recognizing him for his lifetime of work with the 4-H program at all levels, even internationally, establishing guiding principles for the program’s future as we know it today.”

For information on the National 4-H Hall of Fame, visit at: http://www.nae4ha.org/hof.