Threadgill named leader, Turner honored

Paula Threadgill

Paula Threadgill, leader of Family and Consumer Sciences for the Mississippi State University Extension Service, has been named state leader of the Extension Service arm of Family and Consumer Sciences, or FCS. She had been filling the role on an interim basis since April 2010. She is also an Extension professor.

Threadgill is overseeing the work of 42 people with responsibilities in various programs within the Family and Consumer Sciences field.

Threadgill is originally from Livingston, Ala., and grew up active in 4-H. Her mother was an Alabama Cooperative Extension System home economist and 4-H agent, and her father was an educator and county commissioner.

Threadgill has worked for MSU since 1994 in a variety of capacities. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama, a master’s degree from the University of Montevallo in Alabama and a doctorate degree from MSU. She holds numerous professional affiliations and has earned awards for her professional accomplishments.

Steve Turner

In a separate item, Mississippi State University’s agricultural economics department head was recently honored for his significant contributions to his field. Steve Turner received the 2011 Southern Agricultural Economics Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the organization’s annual meeting in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Turner was chosen for the award because he has contributed to Southern agricultural economics for the past 25 years through teaching, research and public service.

Before coming to MSU, Turner taught at the University of Georgia for 17 years.