USU Blanding Associate Vice President retires

Following 40 years of service, current Utah State University (USU) Blanding Associate Vice President Guy Denton has announced he will retire June 30.
Denton’s career has spanned various positions throughout USU’s statewide system, as well as Africa and Ohio State University.
“It has been a privilege to spend the last 20 years of my career in the Uintah Basin and Blanding,” said Denton. “I’ve especially loved building and working with campuses in rural areas to provide access to higher education. It’s at the heart of USU’s land-grant mission.”
Denton began his career at USU in 1981 and has held a wide spectrum of teaching and administrative positions within the College of Agriculture and Regional Campuses.
He served as a professor in Logan and at various Regional Campuses, as a regional department head for Extension in the southwest region, and as executive director of USU Uintah Basin for nearly eight years.
He most recently served as vice provost, vice chancellor, and associate vice president at USU Blanding for the past 12 years.
“USU has been at the center of my professional life for nearly 40 years,” said Denton. “It has allowed me to grow so much, and I’ve had the blessing of working with so many fantastic people who have touched my life. That’s what I’ll miss most – the people.”
Denton also spent significant time working with the people of Somalia and Uganda in Africa. He first served for three years as agriculture engineer and chief of party for the Somalia Agriculture Delivery Project, which was part of the USAID/USU team that helped establish a country-wide Extension service prior to global conflicts overwhelming the country.
Denton then spent seven years at Makerere University in Uganda as part of USAID/Ohio State University. He built the university’s College of Agriculture, introducing a bachelor’s and master’s in agriculture extension where he developed and taught all of the courses and trained Ugandans to teach those courses and become Extension agents.
“This is a bittersweet announcement for USU,” said Dave Woolstenhulme, vice president for USU’s statewide campuses. “We’re excited for Guy and the next chapter of his life, but his departure will leave a big hole, not only in Blanding, but at USU collectively.”
Denton graduated from USU with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agriculture education and received a doctorate in agriculture education/extension from Ohio State University.