MSU Extension 4-H

Dr. Julie Chapin, of Portland, has been honored with the prestigious Michigan 4-H Citation Award at a ceremony on Oct. 3. Chapin was recognized during the Michigan 4-H Legacy Awards Celebration hosted by Michigan State University Extension and the Michigan 4-H Foundation at the MSU University Club in Lansing. 

Michigan 4-H Citation Awards honor individuals and organizations whose multicounty, regional, state, or national contributions and support have significantly advanced the work of MSU Extension’s 4-H Youth Development. The contributions of honorees have expanded the capacity of Michigan 4-H to affect the lives of Michigan young people in positive, significant and meaningful ways. This award, given since 1946, is the highest recognition bestowed by Michigan 4-H Youth Development and is presented with support from the Michigan 4-H Foundation. 

Chapin has devoted more than four decades to advancing positive youth development through MSU Extension and Michigan 4-H, leaving a lasting impact as a professional, leader, volunteer, advocate and philanthropist. Among her many contributions, most recently, Chapin has served as a member of the Michigan 4-H Foundation’s Beyond Ready Campaign Core Committee, providing strategic leadership, fundraising expertise and a steadfast commitment to ensuring a strong future for Michigan 4-H and the young people it serves.

An Ottawa County 4-H alumna and member of the 4-H Emerald Clover Society, Chapin’s distinguished career has spanned county, state and national leadership roles. Chapin began her MSU Extension career in 1981 as a 4-H youth agent before serving as a youth animal science specialist and state 4-H program leader for volunteer development.

In 2010, she became the inaugural director of MSU Extension’s Children and Youth Institute (CYI), while also serving as the state leader for Michigan 4-H and secretary of the Michigan 4-H Foundation Board of Trustees. Following her retirement in 2018, she returned in 2022 to again lead CYI and Michigan 4-H, guiding the organization through a period of rebuilding, growth and innovation. She continued in that role through December 2023 and remained an advisor through June 2024.

Since 2022, Chapin has chaired the Michigan 4-H Foundation’s Resource Development Committee and has played a key leadership role on the Campaign Core Committee for the Beyond Ready Campaign. Her strategic insight, fundraising expertise, and commitment to engaging volunteers, donors and stakeholders have helped strengthen the campaign’s momentum and vision for the future. A devoted supporter of the Michigan 4-H Foundation, Chapin and her husband, Larry, have championed endowment growth, established the Julie A. and Larry T. Chapin Endowment Fund and are recognized as Cornerstone Society members.

This Citation Award celebrates the leadership, advocacy, service and philanthropy that Chapin has provided to secure the future of Michigan 4-H through the Michigan 4-H Foundation’s Beyond Ready Campaign. For decades, she has made Michigan 4-H an ongoing priority through her work, engagement efforts and personal support, and her continuing dedication as a member of the campaign’s core committee will help to ensure Michigan 4-H is well positioned to serve future generations of young people.

Dr. Thomas Coon and Sandra Clarkson Stuckman also received the Michigan 4-H Citation Award at the event. Other honorees recognized at the 2026 Michigan 4-H Legacy Awards Celebration included inductees into the 2026 class of the 4-H Emerald Clover Society, volunteers awarded the 2025 and 2026 Michigan 4-H Salute to Excellence Awards, volunteers awarded the 2025 and 2026 Michigan Farm Bureau Excellence in Agriculture Awards, 50-year 4-H volunteers recognized in 2025 and 2025, winners of the 2025 and 2026 MSU 4-H Scholarship, and 4-H staff retiring since 2024.

To make a donation in tribute of Chapin or another awardee, visit https://mi4hfdtn.org/memorial-tribute-gifts/. For more information on the Michigan 4-H Citation Award and awardees, visit https://mi4hfdtn.org/4-h-emerald-awards/michigan-4-h-citation-award/. 

The Michigan 4-H Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization that supports Michigan 4-H Youth Development. For more information about the Michigan 4-H Foundation, visit www.mi4hfdtn.org. Michigan 4-H Youth Development is the youth-serving program of MSU Extension. More than 139,000 youth are involved in 4-H with the support of 11,000 volunteers. For more information about Michigan 4-H, visit extension.msu.edu/4h.