CORVALLIS — Oregon State University has appointed a new leader to oversee statewide outreach and extension programs.

Ivory Lyles was named vice provost for University Extension and Engagement and director of OSU Extension Service, effective Sept. 30.

He takes over for Anita Azarenko, who served for more than two years in an interim role following the retirement of Scott Reed in 2019. Azarenko now is retiring after nearly 35 years at OSU.

“I am very pleased to join OSU and I look forward to helping support the needs of Oregonians and communities statewide by working with university colleagues, the Oregon Legislature, local counties and community partners throughout the state,” Lyles said in a statement.

OSU’s Division of Extension and Engagement includes the Extension Service and Office of Professional and Continuing Education, serving all 36 Oregon counties and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation.

The division’s programs are built around seven focus areas, including 4-H youth development, agriculture and natural resources, including the Small Farms and Master Gardener programs, family and community health and Oregon Sea Grant.

The university also runs 11 agricultural research and experiment stations, strategically located in different growing regions around the state.

Lyles comes to OSU from the University of Nevada-Reno, where he had been the associate dean for engagement and director of extension since 2017. He oversaw about 300 employees and a budget of $40 million.

Previously, Lyles was a professor, dean and director of land grant programs at Alcorn State University in Lorman, Mississippi, and led the cooperative extension program at Tennessee State University in Nashville — both of which are historically Black colleges and universities.

Lyles has also served as associate vice president for agriculture and director of the cooperative extension service at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and held extension leadership roles at Ohio State University and University of Tennessee.

He is a member of the National Association of County Agriculture Agents, National Association of Extension 4-H Agents and national 4-H Diversity Design team, and serves as program committee chairman for the national Extension Committee on Organization and Policy.

“Dr. Lyles has a long history of outstanding leadership in extension and engagement positions in universities in multiple states, and he is a national leader in this domain as well,” said Edward Feser, OSU’s provost and executive vice president. “I’m delighted he is joining OSU’s leadership team.”

Lyles has a doctorate in agricultural education, community and rural development from Ohio State.

Rondon named interim HAREC director

OSU also appointed a new interim director at the Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center.

Silvia Rondon, a longtime professor and entomologist at the station, will take over the position previously held by Clive Kaiser, who recently stepped down to join the faculty at Lincoln University in New Zealand.

Kaiser was named interim HAREC director in September 2019 after former director Phil Hamm retired. A national search will begin this fall to fill the job permanently.

HAREC serves 500,000 acres of irrigated agriculture in Oregon and Washington’s Columbia Basin, where farmers produce more than 200 different crops.

The station’s research primarily focuses on finding ways to make growers more efficient and profitable. This includes identifying new crops and growing practices tailored for the region; breeding and evaluating new plant varieties; management of pests and diseases; and other environmental issues, such as water quality.

For Rondon, it is her second promotion this year. She was appointed director of OSU’s Integrated Pest Management Center in May.

Though the center is based in Corvallis, Rondon has remained in Hermiston and continues to oversee the entomology program at HAREC.