Arlinda Nauman, a retired University of Idaho faculty member, has been inducted to the 4-H Hall of Fame.
Nauman worked with 4-H for 40 years in Oklahoma, South Dakota and Idaho.
Nauman, who retired from UI in 2012, started her 4-H experience as a member. When she had children, she became a parent volunteer. She spent her career pursuing her passion of helping children by developing 4-H programs across the state. At UI, Nauman served as 4-H youth development program director.
“I am humbled that my peers have selected me for recognition,” Nauman said. “There are a lot of people out there and few of them get this opportunity. I am privileged to be one of those individuals.”
Nauman encouraged any young people thinking about pursuing 4-H as a career to pursue it.
“It’s a good way of life,” Nauman said. “It’s a fun job.”
Approximately 15 people per year have been inducted into the Hall of Fame since 2002, according to the National 4-H Hall of Fame website. Anyone in the history of 4-H who has made significant contributions to 4-H programs as a volunteer or staff member is eligible for nomination.
“She contributed significantly to 4-H in Idaho,” said Maureen Toomey, an area youth development educator with UI Extension. “She greatly valued the volunteer voice. She valued children and families.”
Toomey, who still works for UI, worked under Nauman before her retirement. Toomey said it was difficult naming a favorite memory of working with Nauman.
They worked together for a long time, and Toomey said Nauman was always a supportive, fun-loving and adventurous individual to work with.
“I appreciated that she always supported me,” she said. “She allowed me to work on new projects. She wasn’t hesitant to hand new and big projects off to me even though I may not have had the resume to do that particular project. I developed the skills and abilities I needed because she wasn’t hesitant to empower me.”
Nauman started hundreds of after school clubs across the state of Idaho, bringing 4-H programming to underserved and at-risk communities. She also started the Idaho Afterschool Alliance, which organized the Achieving High Quality Child Care national video conference. The reputation built from this video conference caused USDA to select Nauman as the Western Region Director for the National Network of Child Care.
According to Nauman, when she arrived at UI, the 4-H endowment board at the school contained $55,000. Nauman applied for and received $4.8 million in grants for 4-H youth development at UI and grew the endowment to $2 million by the time she retired. Nauman’s successor, James Lindstrom, is grateful for the work she did for the program.
“She was a fierce advocate for 4-H,” Lindstrom said. “Her whole career was devoted to this program… she is supportive and helps others meet their potential. That’s a great quality in a leader.”
Nauman is the ninth person from Idaho to receive this honor. She follows Larry Branen, 2002; Maurice Johnson, 2002; Erling Johannesen, 2004; Mary Lee Wood, 2005; Andy Smyth, 2006; Vi Rexford, 2007; Frankie Marler, 2011; and Mary Jean Craig, 2015.
The 4-H program in Idaho is 120 years old, according to Lindstrom.