West Virginia University President Gordon Gee, who counts three major land-grant universities among his seven presidential stints, has recognized the May 8 centennial of the creation of the Extension Service with a letter extolling the Smith-Lever Act as a major step in improving people’s lives.

“Through federal, state and county partnerships, this innovative system took land-grant university research, youth programs, training and education in to communities to improve people’s lives,” writes Gee, who is currently serving a second term as president at WVU. Previously, he has been president of The Ohio State University (also twice) and University of Colorado, both of which are large land-grants. His other presidencies were at Brown and Vanderbilt universities.

Here is the link to the letter: http://presidentgee.wvu.edu/messages/smith-lever

-WVU-

jb/05/08/14

CONTACT: University Relations/News
304.293.6997

Follow @WVUToday on Twitter.