Coon receives highest Michigan 4-H honor in 2026
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EmailDr. Thomas Coon, Portage, has been honored with the prestigious Michigan 4-H Citation Award at a ceremony on Oct. 3.
Dr. Thomas Coon, of Portage, has been honored with the prestigious Michigan 4-H Citation Award at a ceremony on Oct. 3. Coon 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.
Coon has dedicated his career to strengthening education, Extension and youth-serving organizations through visionary leadership and service. With experience leading transformational fundraising initiatives and a passion for Michigan 4-H, he has been an invaluable advocate and ambassador.
Coon has played an instrumental role on the Michigan 4-H Foundation’s Beyond Ready Campaign Core Committee, providing strategic counsel and helping advance the campaign’s ambitious vision for the future of Michigan 4-H. Additionally, from 2024-2026 he served as vice president of the Michigan 4-H Foundation Board of Trustees and was elected board president on Oct. 2, 2026.
Coon retired from Oklahoma State University after serving nine years as vice president and dean of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. There, he led the university’s highly successful New Frontiers campaign, which raised funds for a $115 million state-of-the-art teaching, research and Extension facility. The campaign is recognized as one of the fastest and most successful capital efforts in Oklahoma State University history.
Prior to his leadership at Oklahoma State, Coon served as director of MSU Extension from 2005 to 2014, where he also held a seat on the Michigan 4-H Foundation Board of Trustees. He was a professor in MSU’s Department of Fisheries and Wildlife for 25 years and previously taught at Luther College and the University of Missouri.
This Citation Award celebrates Coon’s visionary leadership, commitment to service and dedication to empowering young people, today, tomorrow and long into the future. Through his role on the Beyond Ready Campaign Core Committee, Coon continues to strengthen the future of Michigan 4-H and the communities it serves.
Dr. Julie Chapin 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 Coon 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.
