William Hambleton

Hall of Fame Class of 1996

William Hambleton has spent the past 30 years with the University of California's Cooperative Extension, a part of the University's Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources where his primary involvement was with production agriculture and 4-H youth programs. He was one of three administrators working with congressional representatives from California who wrote the 1985 Farm Bill to fund problem solving research opportunities for county-based scientists. He spent the last 10 years of his University of California career as Director of the Cooperative Extension's South Central Region.

He worked with an advisory committee of 20 agricultural leaders who formed "Friends of Agricultural Extension". His legacy includes the ongoing leadership and effectiveness of this support group which is active in internal and external political activities, program planning and development, and serves as a self-motivating brain trust directed toward the solution of the many challenges facing agriculture as we enter the 21st century.

Since his retirement from the University in 1995, he has been employed part-time as the Agricultural Advisor to the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District to assist agricultural leadership to develop economically valid solutions to the problem of reducing harmful particulate matter in the air.