John Rayfield, a professor within Texas Tech University’s Department of Agricultural Education & Communications, is set to receive a Distinguished Service Award from the Texas FFA Association. The honor will be presented on Wednesday (July 10) as part of the 96th annual Texas FFA Convention in Houston, Texas.
According to Texas FFA Executive Director Jennifer Jackson, the award honors individuals, business groups or organizations who have made outstanding contributions to the FFA and agricultural education.
“We appreciate your dedication to agriculture and to the youth of Texas,” she said in her notification letter to Rayfield. “Thank you for your contributions to the advancement of agricultural education and for your support of the Texas FFA Association.”
Rayfield’s teaching and research interests are in the field of experiential learning where he teaches undergraduate and graduate classes on experiential learning practice and theory. He has authored or co-authored more than 50 refereed journal articles in lead journals in career and technical education and agricultural education.
“Dr. Rayfield has dedicated his career to service to youth organizations and to the FFA Association, in particular,” said Scott Burris, professor and chair of Tech’s Department of Agricultural Education & Communications. “I am very pleased to see his efforts recognized and valued.”
Recent honors for Rayfield include selection as the Non-Land-Grant Agricultural & Renewable Resources Universities Distinguished Educator Award (2022), Western Region - American Association for Agricultural Education Outstanding Teacher (2022), Outstanding Alumni of the Auburn University College of Education (2021), and Texas Tech Integrated Scholar (2021).
In 2019, Rayfield received the ‘Outstanding Journal Article for 2019’ by the American Association for Agricultural Education's Journal of Agricultural Education. The study examined the effects of sequencing instruction on STEM knowledge in high school agricultural education courses.
Prior to joining Davis College in 2016, Rayfield served as an assistant and associate professor with Texas A&M University’s Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education & Communications. The Alabama native received his bachelor’s degree in agricultural education from Auburn University, and his master’s degree in agricultural education from the University of Georgia-Athens. His doctorate in agricultural education is from Texas Tech.
The Texas FFA is the nation’s largest state FFA association with a membership of more than 170,000 individuals. FFA gives students the opportunity to apply practical agriculture-based classroom knowledge to real world experiences through local, state, and national competitions and programs.
CONTACT: Scott Burris, Chair, Department of Agricultural Education & Communications, Texas Tech University at (806) 834-8689 or scott.burris@ttu.edu
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