Utah Agricultural Experiment Station Director H. Paul Rasmussen received Utah State University's top leadership award, the Dr. Nicholas C. and Mary Katherine Leone Leadership Award, at the school's recent department heads conference.

Rasmussen was recognized for his ability to balance several administrative roles. In addition to directing the UAES since 1989, he serves as the university's associate vice president for research and associate dean for research in the College of Agriculture.

"Through the years he has taken on many special university assignments, most recently chairing the Biosecurity Task Force and taking responsibility for the Utah State University Environmental Health and Safety office's oversight of critical areas," Rasmussen's award citation reads. "Dr. Rasmussen has a gift for handling such assignments with common sense, organizational skill and balanced insight."

As director of the Agricultural Experiment Station, Rasmussen has invested state and federal funding in research programs across all colleges in the university, establishing ambitious, yet reasonable, expectations for return on investment, the citation continued.

Rasmussen directed the creation of a reporting system that is used by the College of Agriculture to assess faculty productivity - a system that is being considered for university-wide application. He also created the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station Internship Program, where undergraduate students are provided paid internships on the UAES experimental farms.

In the national arena, Rasmussen has rendered substantial service and has served in various leadership roles, including as general chairman with the Experiment Station Council on Organization and Policy. In that role he has testified before Congress and advanced the mission of land grant universities throughout the country.

Rasmussen was nominated for the award by Noelle Cockett, dean of USU's College of Agriculture, and his impact locally and nationally is reflected in the letters supporting his nomination which came from UAES staff members, experiment station directors in other states, other USU administrators, Utah's commissioner of agriculture, Utah Farm Bureau officials, and state legislators.

The Leone Leadership Award was endowed in 1986 by the late Dr. Nicholas C. Leone and Mary Katherine Leone. The award recognizes top administrators, department heads or others who function at the administrative level but are rarely accorded significant recognition.

Award recipients are presented a citation plaque. The award is also represented by Excalibur, a Steuban crystal art piece that is on display in Old Main's Champ Hall on the Utah State campus. Recipients' names are engraved on a plaque at the base of Excalibur's display case. Additionally, a financial award is presented to each recipient to create or add to an existing scholarship of his or her choice.