UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — During a telephonic meeting today (Nov. 9), the Board of Trustees voted to accept the results of the agricultural interest trustees election. Randall “Randy” E. Black was elected and Lynn A. Dietrich was re-elected.
Black has been a farmer for more than 40 years and is CEO and president of First Citizens Community Bank. He has more than three decades of business and accounting experience and has been with First Citizens Community Bank since 1993. Black is a lifetime 4-H member and a program leader, and holds memberships in the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, Pennsylvania Bankers Association, American Bankers Association, Liberty Community 4-H and the Tioga/Potter Farm Bureau. He is an alumnus of Bloomsburg University.
Dietrich is a retired director of engineering for Manitowoc Cranes, Inc., and a former vice president of product development for Grove Manufacturing. Dietrich currently owns and manages 500 acres of farm and forest land in three Pennsylvania counties. He holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering from Penn State, and has remained actively involved in the University. Dietrich is a vice president of the Franklin County Farm Bureau, and holds memberships in the Pennsylvania and American Farm Bureaus.
The election of the agricultural interest trustees was temporarily deferred earlier this spring due to the pandemic.
Unlike the election of alumni trustees, which is conducted in a separate process electronically, the voting for agricultural interest trustees typically involves in-person caucusing and voting. Certified agricultural organizations in each county across the state convene three delegates who, in turn, vote for the agricultural interest trustees.
Due to safety guidelines prohibiting large gatherings, caucusing for this election occurred via telephone conferencing, with the final election held via mail-in balloting.