Patricia Calvert

Patricia Calvert was born in 1936 in Washington, D. C. She received a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Maryland in 1976. While working for her degree, she was employed full time by the information and communications staff of the extension service at the U. S. Department of Agriculture.

Before joining the extension service, she worked for USDA's farmers' home administration and in private industry. She joined the extension service in 1972 as a public information officer, producing general information for the agency.

From 1978 to 1981, she headed the magazine unit of the science and education administration, editing the Extension Review and Agricultural Research magazines.

In 1984, she was named deputy director of extension's information and communications staff, which later became the communications, information and technology staff.

In 1993, she received the first Secretary of Agriculture's Work Force Diversity Award and the ACE Professional Award. Her other ACE awards include the Award of Excellence for publications.

When she retired from USDA in March 1996, Calvert was deputy administrator for communications, technology and distance learning. In retirement, she was president of Calvert & Calvert Consultants, a communications and management consultancy firm in Annapolis, Maryland.