David Kohl inducted into Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Hall of Fame
David Kohl, professor emeritus of agricultural and applied economics, was recently inducted into the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Hall of Fame during the annual college alumni awards ceremony.
Kohl, of Blacksburg, Virginia, joined the faculty in 1978 and has devoted his career to conducting dynamic instruction, extension, and applied research in agricultural finance and management.
A native of Belleville, New York, Kohl received his associate’s degree from Jefferson Community College, bachelor’s degree from Oswego State University, and completed his graduate degrees at Cornell University. For 25 years, Kohl was professor of agricultural finance and small business management and entrepreneurship in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at Virginia Tech.
He has received 11 major teaching awards while educating more than 10,000 students. He also earned 25 major extension and public service awards from Virginia Tech, Cornell University, and state and national organizations. Kohl is a two-time recipient of the prestigious American Agricultural Economics Association's Distinguished Teaching Award. Kohl is one of only five professors in the 100-year history of the association to receive the award twice.
To recognize his contributions not only to Virginia, but to the world’s agricultural community, several alumni, colleagues, friends, and agribusiness enterprises established the Kohl Agribusiness Centre in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech in honor of his long-term commitment to practical teaching, research, and extension. Today the Kohl Centre offers relevant, beyond-the-classroom opportunities to students across all colleges.
Kohl took his passion for teaching off campus as well. A visionary leader, he is chancellor of Farm Credit University, which has had more than 4,000 enrollments of lenders and producers using a blended online and face-to-face educational approach. He is also a business coach and part owner of Homestead Creamery, a value-added dairy business in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
