The Minnesota Association of Agricultural Educators (MAAE) presented University of Minnesota Crookston Professor
Lyle Westrom with the MAAE Presidential Award of Merit at their annual summer conference banquet on Wednesday, July 11, 2018. The award was presented by ADawn Nelson, agriculture instructor at Northland Community and Technical College and 1997 graduate of the U of M Crookston. The award is given in honor of someone with a lifetime of commitment and devoted support for Minnesota Agriculture and Agricultural Education.
Westrom, a professor in the Agriculture and Natural Resources Department at the University of Minnesota Crookston, began his career on February 1, 1989. He has taught more than twenty courses during his nearly 30-year tenure. He has taught primarily in the agricultural education and animal science areas and is currently on a phased retirement program until he completes his final month of teaching in May 2020.
Outside the classroom, FFA and dairy judging have been particular areas of interest for Westrom. He has coached over 40 dairy judging teams. He advised the Collegiate FFA, has helped judge numerous parliamentary procedure career development events, and helped start the Sparsely Populated Agricultural Education Program. The Minnesota Alumni FFA inducted Westrom into the Minnesota Hall of Fame, the Minnesota FFA Association awarded Lyle with the Honorary State Degree, and the National FFA organization presented him with the Honorary American degree earlier in his career.
He was involved in the joint agricultural education program with University of Minnesota Twin Cities from 2000 until 2013. In 2015, after approval from the University of Minnesota Board of Regents, he prepared program documentation to the Minnesota Board of Teaching. The MN Board of Teaching approved the new agricultural education program in October of 2015. Classes started in spring of 2016 with the first three students graduating in May 2018.
