District Directors

Terry Anderson has been Northeast District Director since August 2000. For 23 years before that he was with the U of M - Duluth Office of Continuing Education and Extension, designing and delivering credit and non-credit outreach programs in education, arts, humanities and human services.

His priorities as director include: marketing, program development and finding strategic partners to strengthen Extension in Northeastern Minnesota. Educational and programming priorities for the district include: land use planning and development; the interface of technology and extension work; improving agricultural production and sustainability; managing small parcels of forest and lakeshore land for environmental, aesthetic and economic benefit; and engaging youth and family in environmental stewardship.

Rod Hamer is the interim District Director for the Metro District. He provides administrative and programmatic leadership to Extension Educators in this seven-county area, including the urban cities of Minneapolis, St. Paul, and St. Cloud. Educators apply research-based information from the land grant universities to the everyday challenges of people in the urban, suburban and rural communities.

Hamer has most recently been director of the farmer-lender mediation program, and an organization and program development specialist. He previously was an Extension program leader assigned to the Metro District, and before that, was a county Extension educator in Rice County.

LuAnn Hiniker is District Director for the Southeast district. She provides administrative and programmatic leadership for the 15 counties of southeast Minnesota. Hiniker holds a Ph.D. in Workforce Education and Development from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC). She also received an M.S. degree in Educational Administration: Higher Education Leadership and a B.S. in Spanish and Humanities. Her Master’s thesis and Ph.D. dissertation research involved university outreach and the importance of higher education partnerships.

Before coming to the University of Minnesota, Dr. Hiniker was an Instructor and Research Assistant Professor in the College of Education and Human Services at SIUC and was the Director of “An Adventure of the American Mind”. This program was funded by a $2.7 million grant from the Library of Congress and focused on preparing K-12 teachers to integrate technology into teaching and learning. Hiniker was previously a research administrator and past Director of the Information Sciences Institute at Minnesota State University Mankato. She has published in workforce education and technology journals and has conducted numerous national and international presentations on technology and the preparation of today’s workforce.

She was a 4-Her in Nicollet County, MN, and is avidly involved in agriculture and horticulture.

Lee Raeth, District Director, Central District, provides administrative and programmatic leadership to Extension Educators in the 12-county Central District. Twenty-nine years of Extension experience includes serving as Extension Educator in Aitkin, Wright and Carlton counties, and as past Executive Director of the U of M Central Region Sustainable Development Partnership.

Current North Central District educational program priorities include: education for water and land management; biotechnology and food safety education; education for local public policy decisions and strengthening 4-H Youth Development. Research interests include identifying opportunities in rural communities experiencing increased ethnic and racial diversity. Raeth holds B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Minnesota.

Kay Stanek, has been West Central District Director since August 2000. For 13 years before that she was an Extension Family Living Agent in a rural Wisconsin county and for 2 years, chair of the Department of Family Development, University of Wisconsin.

Stanek provides administrative leadership, program development, budget management and personnel supervision. WC Education Program priorities include: Changing Communities; Building Family Strengths - Managing Family Life; Farming for Tomorrow; Food Safety: Producer to Consumer; Leadership for Land Use and Water Quality. Stanek holds a B.S. degree in Home Economics, a M.S. in Continuing and Vocational Education, both at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

David Werner, Southwest District Director since June 1996, has been with the University of Minnesota Extension Service since 1980. The Southwest District covers 14 counties geographically. Previously he served twelve years as Extension Educator and County Leader in Waseca County where he specialized in Livestock Systems while also focusing on leadership development. His first four years with the Extension Service were in Chippewa County as a Youth and Agricultural Agent.

Werner holds a Bachelors degree from South Dakota State University and a Master of Science degree in Extension Education from Louisiana State University.

Deborah Zak, has been the Northwest District Director since 1997. Before that she was Pennington County Extension Educator for 20 years. Current educational programs include a focus on the aging population in northwest Minnesota with a goal of increasing their educational and employment opportunities. A special area of interest has been working with the Ojibwe Reservations, cooperating with the College of Natural Resources and various tribal and community organizations to design and deliver a science and math summer program for students in grades 8-12 on the White Earth Reservation. The program is designed to improve students' academic achievement using a natural resources based curriculum that incorporates Ojibwe culture and traditions.

Zak holds a B.S. degree in Vocational Home Economics Education and a M.S. in Education/General Studies, both from the University of North Dakota.