The West Virginia University Extension Service has selected a new state 4-H program leader to direct the 4-H and youth development program, which involves more than 56,000 members and 7,200 adult volunteer leaders statewide.

Debbie Myers McDonald, Hancock County Extension agent from 1980 to1986 and lifelong West Virginia 4-H’er and 4-H All Star, will assume her new duties May 16. She will also be associate director of Extension’s Center for 4-H and Youth, Family and Adult Development, located on WVU ’s Morgantown campus.

“Debbie brings a wealth of experience to this key statewide position,”said Larry Cote, WVU associate provost and Extension director.”She has held county and state Extension positions in two states, has had teaching and administrative positions in higher education and has owned a management consulting business for six years. Her knowledge of and commitment to youth and to West Virginia 4-H make her ideal for this position.”

Currently, McDonald is adjunct professor in management and family and consumer sciences at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pa., and president of McDonald&Associates.

A Morgantown native, McDonald has two degrees from WVU : a B.S. in family resources awarded in 1978 and an M.A. in speech communication awarded in 1981. She also is a Ph.D. candidate in organizational communication at the University of Maryland.

In her earlier work for WVU , she was a program assistant, teaching assistant, Extension agent and Extension assistant professor.

Her other Extension experience was at the University of Maryland, where she was a communication specialist in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Agriculture and Extension and served as acting director of the educational video production unit with Extension’s Information and Publications Office.

McDonald’s previous teaching positions include part-time instructor in communication arts and adjunct faculty in speech communication at Hood College, Frederick, Md., adjunct faculty in speech communication at Frederick Community College, Frederick, Md. and teaching assistant at the University of Maryland, College Park.

At Hood College, she also was special assistant to the president for organization development from 1994 to 1997 and director of the Service Learning Center and the Bonner Scholars Program from 1992 to 1994.

As a communications consultant, she conducted organizational communication audits and taught workshops in leadership development, small group facilitation, conflict management and mediation.

Among her community activities are leading a 4-H club, volunteering as a counselor at Alpha 4-H camps at WVU Jackson’s Mill, serving on the visiting committee of the WVU Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences, serving on the board of directors of the American Heart Association in Greensburg and volunteering in the Greensburg school system.

McDonald’s husband, Grant, is a graduate of WVU and a 4-H All Star. They have two daughters, Katie and Emily, who are members of 4-H.