By SKYLER HAMMONS, Staff Writer
Larriann Livingston became Eastern Oklahoma State College’s new Dean of Agriculture over the course of this last summer. Livingston is originally from Tushka, Oklahoma, and was a student at Eastern for two years, where she majored in Agricultural Communications. After she completed her associate’s degree, she went on to Oklahoma State University where she double majored in Agribusiness and Agricultural Communications. While she was at Oklahoma State University, she received a master’s degree in International Agriculture. During her last year of getting her master’s degree, she got a job with the Choctaw Nation, which she had for two years.
Eddie Woods, the former Dean of Agriculture, reached out to Livingston hoping she would be interested in the Agronomy instructor and the Soils Judging Team coaching positions. After completing the interview and application process at Eastern, she became an advisor, a coach, and an instructor. She started the position within Agronomy, Agriculture Education, Agriculture Communication and Agriculture Leadership. Livingston is also currently the coach for the Eastern Soils Judging Team.
Livingston took over the Dean of Agriculture position after the Spring 2019 semester when the last position holder, Eddie Woods, retired.
Along with her past responsibilities, she also has some new additions to her agenda. She is now a supervisor of the entire Agriculture Division’s faculty and staff. She coordinates the division’s hosted or associated events, and she makes sure that the division is in accordance with the rest of the campus. The Dean of Agriculture is in charge of managing the budget for the school farm and the Ag Division’s finances. She also serves on multiple committees, and she is a sponsor for the campus’ Ag Ambassador Program and the Aggie Club.
“Mr. Woods left some big shoes for me to fill. He was a great Dean of this division and I have so much respect for him,” Livingston said. “I hope to bring in a fresh perspective along with new ways to recruit students and continue to grow our program. I feel Mr. Woods laid a lot of the ground work and I am thankful for all of the work he put into this program.”
The job title requires a lot from an individual, especially when looking at it from a responsibility standpoint. Agriculture has always been a big part of her life and Eastern helped fuel that by having a big influence on her during her college years as a student.
Lastly, along with what Livingston stated earlier about bringing fresh perspectives and helping to grow the agricultural program, she hopes that one day her students in the Agriculture Division can look back on their experience here and believe Eastern was the difference in their success.
