{"id":241060,"date":"2026-02-13T08:09:43","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T13:09:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=241060"},"modified":"2026-02-13T08:09:43","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T13:09:43","slug":"michael-dietz-named-head-of-uconns-department-of-extension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2026\/02\/michael-dietz-named-head-of-uconns-department-of-extension\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Dietz Named Head of UConn\u2019s Department of Extension"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Michael Dietz, senior extension educator and director of the Connecticut Institute of Water Resources, has been named Head of the University of Connecticut\u2019s Department of Extension, effective summer 2026.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am thrilled that Dr. Dietz has agreed to serve in this leadership role within <a href=\"https:\/\/extension.uconn.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">UConn Extension<\/a>,\u201d says Interim Dean Kumar Venkitanarayanan. \u201cHis expertise in his field of study combined with his ability to engage students, colleagues, and communities will strengthen Extension\u2019s ability to support residents across Connecticut.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dietz succeeds Bonnie Burr, who has served as head of Extension for more than a decade, providing steady leadership and advancing Extension\u2019s role in connecting UConn\u2019s research and expertise with communities across Connecticut.<\/p>\n<p>Dietz brings extensive experience in Extension education, administration, and applied research. A UConn alumnus, he has served the University in a variety of Extension leadership roles, developing and leading statewide programs focused on water resources, environmental quality, and community-based education. His work emphasizes practical, science-based solutions and strong partnerships with municipalities, agencies, and community organizations.<\/p>\n<p>As head of Extension, Dietz will focus on supporting Extension faculty and staff, strengthening mentoring and professional development opportunities, and enhancing communication and collaboration across UConn. His leadership vision also emphasizes expanding Extension\u2019s visibility and impact campus-wide while continuing to deliver high-quality, community-engaged programming throughout the state.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs Department Head, I will work to facilitate mutually-beneficial collaborations with other faculty across UConn, which would help to elevate the visibility of Extension campus-wide, and bring new knowledge to the world of Extension,\u201d says Dietz.<\/p>\n<p>UConn Extension plays a central role in the University\u2019s land-grant mission, connecting research, knowledge, and resources with residents, organizations, and industries across Connecticut.<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/linktr.ee\/uconncahnr_social\"><em>UConn CAHNR<\/em><\/a><em>\u00a0on social media<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A UConn alumnus, he has served the University in a variety of Extension leadership roles, developing and leading statewide programs focused on water resources, environmental quality, and community-based education<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":168319,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2224,1715,2304,2225],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2140],"class_list":["post-241060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cahnr","category-community-impact","category-extension","category-uconn-storrs"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 15:14:15","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241060"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":241062,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241060\/revisions\/241062"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/168319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241060"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=241060"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=241060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}