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During its annual conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) honored Lunenburg County resident Dr. Dixie Watts Dalton earlier this month.

Dr. Dalton received the Distinguished Teaching Award for faculty with 10 or more years’ graduate teaching experience. Dr. Matt Holt, Department Head of Virginia Tech’s (VT) Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, where Dalton is an Associate Professor of Practice, paid tribute to his co-worker in the nomination letter.

“Dr. Dalton has a record of servant leadership in higher education and endless contributions to the agricultural and agribusiness communities in the Commonwealth,” Holt wrote in the letter. “Dr. Dalton always works quietly but effectively, and always in the spirit of Ut Prosim (that I may serve). She has provided thoughtful and consistent leadership throughout her career for our department, our college, Virginia Tech, and Virginia. She inspires, provides advice and guidance, and always goes above and beyond for the sake of the students and their success.”

MORE ABOUT THE AWARD

The national association serves professionals in agricultural and related fields, including academia, government, industry, and non-profit sectors, engaging in teaching, research, and outreach on topics like agriculture economics, international development, and agribusiness.

“It was a true honor to be nominated by the department for this national recognition,” Dalton said of the award. “I had such outstanding teachers and inspiring mentors when I was a student here, and it was my dream to become a faculty member in this department that molded and shaped me into the person I am. As faculty, we do what we do for the love of teaching and advising and not for recognition, but I am happy to represent our department through this award.”

As a two-time alumna of the department (1986 Bachelor’s graduate and 1989 Master’s graduate), Dalton started her career there in 1993 after receiving her Economics Ph.D. from Duke University. She focused on undergraduate teaching and advising, earning numerous awards, including Virginia Tech’s university awards for outstanding teaching and for outstanding advising, both in the same year (2003).

Dalton also won the AAEA’s Distinguished Teaching Award for undergraduate teaching, 10 or more years, in 2007. In recognition of her service to the industry, she has been honored by both the Virginia Farm Bureau and the Virginia Agribusiness Council. For her leadership in cooperative youth education, including offering a national youth leadership conference on the Virginia Tech campus for consecutive years when the sponsoring organization decided to cease offering it, she was honored by the Association of Cooperative Educators.

RETURNING HOME TO LUNENBURG

After 17 years in the department, Dalton returned to her home county of Lunenburg in 2010, accepting a faculty role at Southside Virginia Community College to develop and lead a new agribusiness program. The degrees she created provided a pipeline for local students to transfer into agriculture programs at four-year schools or to enter the workforce. In addition to teaching on campus, she traveled to Randolph-Henry High School two days a week to teach dual enrollment agriculture classes to students there, offering them a head start on their college educations. In 2015, she became the Dean of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Business where she supervised 20 full-time and 55 adjunct faculty and oversaw curriculum for nearly 20 certificate and degree programs. Her division was actively involved in the college’s Campus within Walls program, where educational opportunities are made available to incarcerated populations at four correctional facilities.

DEVELOPING NEW PROGRAMS

Dalton set about creating two new online master’s courses, and successfully navigating the new program through the curriculum development process. She also developed an online certificate in Agribusiness Fundamentals, gaining approval from the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia. For an industry partner, she developed and taught three microeconomics modules for a non-credit graduate certificate.

At the heart of Dalton’s teaching philosophy are care and concern for her students. She enjoys learning about their goals and aspirations and designing assignments and projects that can aid in meeting those goals. Students have expressed appreciation for the interactive nature of her online courses, the applicability to current events, and the inclusion of prominent guest speakers.

Her service for scholarship support is another example of how she always has the student in mind. Since 2017, she has been the president of the Colonial Agricultural Education Foundation, which oversees a portfolio of over $4.8 million, the earnings from which fund over 80 scholarships annually, valued at nearly $200,000. She is also a member of scholarship committees for the Youth Development Board of the State Fair of Virginia, the Virginia Cooperative Council, and the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Alumni Organization.

Throughout her career in higher education, Dr. Dalton has taught more than 3,750 students in over 100 sections of 25 different courses at Virginia Tech and Southside Virginia Community College, from freshman to graduate level.

In the words of Department Head Holt, “she is a passionate and dedicated professor who truly cares about the success of students. She inspires and brings out the best in everyone. I am in awe of all that she does to ensure every student feels welcomed and heard, and realizes their best potential.”

Dalton is married to Johnny, owner of Dalton Farms and Valley Creek Hunting Supply of Kenbridge, and is the daughter of Albert and T.J. Watts of Keysville.