Dale McCall Ag Scholarship

Dr. Dale McCall was raised on a farm south of Yuma, the second youngest of nine children born to Arthur and Alice. The children all assisted on the farm as they were growing up. McCall attended the two-room Albarr School through the eighth grade.

When he entered Yuma High School, he enrolled in the vocational agriculture program and became a member of the FFA Chapter. He excelled in the program, as he was Star Greenhand, Star Chapter Farmer, received the State Farmer degree and was chapter vice president and president. Dr. McCall was a member of the livestock judging and crops judging team that received gold at the state contest, and the range and soil judging team that won a gold award on the district level. He was chairman of the state parliamentary procedure champion team, and received the Chapter Livestock Proficiency Award and the Dekalb Award as the outstanding senior.

Dr. McCall was a leader at NJC. He excelled as a member of the livestock judging team and was named Livestock Judge of the Year in 1966. During his sophomore year, he served as president of the Associated Student Government. He graduated in 1966.

Dale and Judy Korf were married on June 26, 1966.

He transferred to Colorado State University and was involved in campus activities. He received the Bachelor’s Degree and was an Honor Graduate in the College of Agriculture in 1968.

After three years of teaching, Dr. McCall returned to CSU on an assistantship and earned a Master’s in Education in Vocational Education Administration and Supervision in 1972. After additional experience, Dr. McCall earned the Doctorate Degree in Vocational Administration and Supervision in 1982 from CSU.

Dr. McCall has had a diversified 51 year employment career including:  agricultural education instructor at McClare High School from 1968 to 1971; graduate teaching assistant at CSU 1971-1972; agriculture education Instructor at Larimer County Vocational Technical Center 1972-1974; animal science instructor and livestock judging coach at NJC 1974-1975; assistant supervisor – Colorado Young Farmers Educational Association 1974-1982; graduate teacher assistant at CSU 1981-1982. From 1978 to 1979 he was acting supervisor Agriculture Education; assistant supervisor Agriculture Education and FFA executive secretary 1975-1978 and 1979 – 1982. Dr. McCall served as executive director for the Colorado State Council on Vocational Education 1982-1989 and the assistant director and executive director of occupational education at Pickens Technical Center in Aurora from 1989-1994. He was the superintendent of Woodlin School 1994-1996. Dr. McCall has served as the executive director of the Colorado BOCES Association from 2007-2019.

After serving as vice president of Rocky Mountain Farmers Union from 2011 to 2016, he served as president from 2016 to 2019.

Dr. McCall has been involved in many community service activities including: United Power Roundup Committee 2002-2019, United Power Elections Committee 2002-2019, Weld County Work Force Board 1996-2019, member of Greeley/Weld Chamber of Commerce 1996-2019, member of CSU College of Teacher Education 1994-2019, member of Colorado Association of School Executives Legislative Committee 1996-2019, member of Northern Colorado Superintendents Council 1994-2019, vice president and president of the St. Vrain Valley School District Board of Education, member of CSU College of Agricultural Sciences Advisory Committee 1984-1992 and many others.

Dr. McCall is the recipient of numerous awards and honors including:  Roy Brubacher Award – Colorado BOCES Association 2001 and 2006, NJC Agriculture Hall of Fame – 2001, Colorado Agriculture Hall of Fame, CSU Agriculture and Resource Economics Hall of Fame and Honored Alumnus, Honorary Chapter – State and American FFA Degree, Outstanding Service Award – Colorado State Council on Vocational Education and numerous others.

For 25 years, Judy served as administrative assistant for the vocational student organizations at the State Board for Community Colleges and Occupational Education. She received numerous recognition awards from the organizations and was named Classified Employee of the Year in 1999.

Three generations of the McCall family have graduated from NJC, including Dr. McCall, his son Tim and late wife Liz, grandson Robert and his wife Kelsey and granddaughter Mary Kate.

The Dale and Judy McCall family have owned and operated 320 acres of irrigated farmland and 1650 acres of dryland near Yuma since 1975. Their son Tim and grandson Robert and his wife, Kelsey, manage the daily operations.

Dr. McCall was on the NJC Alumni Association Board of Directors from 2003 to 2009 and served as vice president and president. He was the recipient of the Pathfinder Award in 1989 and the Service Award in 2010.

“I had a great experience here, what a great institution NJC is.”- Dale McCall