North Dakota State University President Joseph Chapman is the first recipient of a Rural Leadership North Dakota award named for him.

He received the Joseph A. Chapman Leadership Award earlier this month during graduation ceremonies for RLND’s second class.

RLND is a two-year NDSU Extension Service program. Participants from farms, ranches and rural communities and organizations throughout the state attend 10 in-state workshops and take a six-day study tour to Washington, D.C., to learn to become effective leaders with the skills to overcome challenges facing rural North Dakota. They learn to think critically and creatively, communicate effectively, use technology and understand agricultural and rural policy. They also implement a project that benefits their organization, community or region.

Forty-one North Dakotans have graduated from RLND since it began in November 2003.

“The RLND program started with the leadership of President Chapman,” says Marie Hvidsten, program director. “He supported the program financially and challenged the NDSU Extension Service to develop a statewide leadership program for North Dakota.”

The program’s third class began this fall.

“The RLND program wanted to celebrate and honor President Chapman’s leadership through an award that bears his name and will be presented to an individual who demonstrates leadership attributes such as President Chapman has demonstrated for the RLND program,” Hvidsten adds. “President Chapman was the spark that ignited the idea of starting a statewide leadership program for North Dakota.”

Chapman is the obvious choice to be the award’s first recipient because he possesses the five attributes that are the foundation of RLND’s leadership theory, which is transformational leadership, according to D.C. Coston, NDSU vice president for Agriculture and University Extension.

“His theme of ‘It’s About People’ models the way of focusing resources on programs and initiatives to improve the quality of life for people in North Dakota,” Coston says of Chapman. “He inspires a shared vision of the future, encouraging people across the state to be part of that future. He challenges the process to bring about positive growth for North Dakota. President Chapman enables others to act and he encourages the heart by recognizing individuals’ contributions.”

The award will be presented every two years during the RLND graduation gala.

“This is indeed an honor,” Chapman says. “It has been my great privilege to have worked closely with friends and colleagues from across North Dakota to help build a better future for our state. I believe that a key element of leadership is to provide opportunity for people to succeed, and that is what programs like Rural Leadership North Dakota are designed to do. It is educating tomorrow’s leaders.”

For more information about RLND, contact Hvidsten at (701) 231-5640 or mailto:marie.hvidsten@ndsu.edu or visit its Web site at http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/rlnd/.

NDSU Agriculture Communication