Cunningham presented NACAA HOF Award
The National Association of County Agricultural Agents (NACAA) recently presented four recipients with the prestigious NACAA Hall of Fame (HOF) Award, one of which hailed from the Cowboy State.
According to NACAA, this award recognizes a member or lifetime member from each NACAA region for their Extension programming, state and national association activities and humanitarian efforts beyond the normal call of duty.
Each state can nominate one individual and must submit a 500-word summary and three letters of support.
This year, the 2025 Western Region NACAA HOF Award winner is Ron Cunningham of Lander.
Cunningham began working as an Extension agent with the University of Wyoming (UW) in 1977 and retired in 2015. During this time, he made a profound impact on the clientele of Fremont County, his colleagues and everyone around him.
Cunningham has been presented countless awards and honors over the years at every level – county, state and national.
As a lifetime member of NACAA and the Wyoming Association of County Agricultural Agents (WACAA), he was awarded the Career Achievement Award in 1981. He then went on to win the Distinguished Service Award in 1986 and was Wyoming’s Outstanding Educator of the Year in 2011.
Throughout his career, he was also recognized several times for his outstanding abilities, winning the Jim Dubree Excellence in Extension Award in 1998 – the highest honor in UW Extension – and the Meritorious 4-H Award in 2003.
Finally, in 2023 following his retirement from Extension, Cunningham was inducted into the Wyoming Agriculture HOF.
During Cunningham’s Extension career, he was always the epitome of a leader and organizer of educational events.
He served as president of WACAA multiple times, including from 1982-84 and 2001-04.
He also led major organizing efforts and initiative teams for agriculture and natural resources programming across Wyoming unlike any other person in UW Extension history. Many of the major events he organized are still ongoing today.
Major programs such as Fremont County Farm and Ranch Days, several cattle artificial insemination schools and the Lander Valley Garden Expo were all started during Cunningham’s tenure and continue to be some of the absolute best annual Extension programs offered in Wyoming today.
