Thomas W. Covey III, of Radford, Va., senior Virginia Cooperative Extension agent based in Christiansburg, Va., was conferred with the title "Senior Extension Agent Emeritus" by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors during the board's quarterly meeting Monday, March 14.

The title of emeritus may be conferred on retired professors and associate professors, administrative officers, librarians, and exceptional staff members who have given exemplary service to the university and who are specially recommended to the board of visitors by Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger. Nominated individuals who are approved by the board of visitors receive an emeritus certificate from the university.

A member of the Virginia Tech faculty in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Virginia Cooperative Extension since 1975, Covey served the educational needs of Virginians in the areas of farm security, cattle marketing options, farm recordkeeping, estate planning, farm safety, fencing laws, farm tax laws, farm profitability and farm leasing. He also serves as the Extension representative for the Virginia Tech Farm and Family Showcase.

Covey held the positions of president, president-elect, vice president, treasurer, and secretary of the Virginia Association of Agricultural Extension Agents. He received numerous awards during his career, including the highest rank of senior Extension agent.

Consistently ranked by the National Science Foundation among the top 10 institutions in agricultural research, Virginia Tech's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences offers students the opportunity to learn from some of the world's leading agricultural scientists. The college's comprehensive curriculum gives students a balanced education that ranges from food and fiber production to economics to human health. The college is a national leader in incorporating technology, biotechnology, computer applications, and other recent scientific advances into its teaching program.

Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech has grown to become the largest university in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, Virginia Tech's eight colleges are dedicated to putting knowledge to work through teaching, research, and outreach activities, and to fulfilling its vision to be among the top research universities in the nation. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg, and other campus centers in northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls 28,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 170 academic degree programs.

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