Travis D. Park: National FFA President 1992–93
Indiana · No. 66 of 100 · National FFA President 1992–93
At a Glance
- Office: National FFA President, 1992–93 (No. 66 of 100)
- Home state: Indiana, a member of the Indian Creek FFA chapter
- Education: Purdue University, B.S. 1996 and M.S. 2002; a doctorate later
- Career: High school agriculture teacher; agricultural education professor at North Carolina State University since 2013
- Later FFA role: National FFA Advisor, National FFA board chair and national director of agricultural education, beginning January 2023
Travis Park is one of the few National FFA presidents whose later career brought him back to lead the organization itself. He was elected national president in 1992, spent two decades as a teacher and teacher educator, and in 2023 became National FFA Advisor, the adult who chairs the National FFA Board of Directors.
Farm Roots and the Indian Creek Chapter
NC State’s faculty profile says Park was born and raised on a hay, row crop and livestock farm in Indiana. Purdue’s alumni profile adds that he was a nine-year 4-H member in Johnson County. A 1992 newspaper report on the national officer team lists him as a member of the Indian Creek FFA chapter. Those are the main public details of his youth; this site does not repeat family or residence information about living people.
The Presidency, 1992–93
Park was elected at the 65th National FFA Convention in November 1992 to lead a six-member national officer team. A convention-week newspaper report gave his age as 20 and said he was taking time away from his studies to serve. That convention opened with a performance by the Kentucky HeadHunters, a country band made up of former FFA members, and featured Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton. At it, the National FFA Foundation announced a record level of support, with $4,751,000 raised in 1992 for FFA and agricultural education programs, up seven percent from 1991.
Three decades later Park remembered those years in a National FFA article, which describes him fondly recalling greeting members from across the country as the 1992–93 national president.
Back to the Classroom
After his year of service Park finished at Purdue, earning a bachelor’s degree in agricultural sciences education and communication in 1996. He then taught agriculture at Tri-County High School in Wolcott, Indiana, for about five and a half years. According to Purdue, the Tri-County FFA chapter was named the state’s top chapter in 2001, and the agriculture program was one of six named Outstanding Agriculture Programs that year by the National Association of Agricultural Educators. NC State’s profile lists Park as the Indiana Association of Agricultural Educators’ Outstanding Agricultural Educator in 2001 and 2002. He completed a Purdue master’s degree in education administration in 2002.
Preparing the Next Generation of Teachers
Park next spent eight years preparing agriculture teachers for New York and the Northeast. He was tenured and promoted to associate professor and director of teacher education in 2011, then joined North Carolina State University in 2013. He is now a full professor and the program coordinator for agricultural education there.
His record of service in the profession includes:
- Coordinator of NC Teach Ag, from 2014
- Editor of Career and Technical Education Research, 2015–2018
- Honorary State FFA Degree from the North Carolina FFA Association, 2017
- National Teach Ag Champion, named by the National Council for Agricultural Education, 2018
- Academy of Outstanding Teachers, NC State University, 2018
- President of the National Council for Agricultural Education, 2020
Purdue also describes him as a Fellow of the American Association of Agricultural Education, which it calls the profession’s highest distinction, and named him a 2023 Distinguished Alumnus of its agricultural sciences education and communication department.
National FFA Advisor
In October 2022 the National Council for Agricultural Education named Park director of agricultural education, National FFA board chair and National FFA advisor. The role began January 1, 2023, succeeding Dr. James Woodard, who had stepped down in May 2022. It is a three-year renewable appointment in which he co-directs the joint governance committee of the National FFA Organization and the National FFA Foundation board of trustees. On his appointment he said he was “humbled to be afforded this opportunity.” Purdue notes that he provides this leadership as pro bono service alongside his university post. He was still listed as chair and national advisor in the organization’s fall and winter 2025 magazine and in news coverage of National FFA Week in February 2026.
Why His Story Matters
Park’s path shows a particularly direct line from FFA to agricultural education: a national president who became a classroom teacher, then a teacher of teachers, and finally the adult leader responsible for the organization that started it all. Among the 100 national presidents he is one of very few documented as returning to govern FFA itself.
Next: Curtis C. Childers, 1993–94 →
Sources
- NC State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: Travis Park, PhD
- Purdue Agriculture: Travis Park named 2023 ASEC Distinguished Alumnus
- Purdue Agriculture Envision: Alumni Spotlights, Winter 2023
- National FFA Organization: Dr. Park Named National FFA Advisor
- National FFA Organization: Dr. Park: The Magic of Convention
- High Plains Journal: Park takes new duties with FFA
- Rural Radio Network: Former National FFA officer takes new role
- AgriNews: Time to celebrate, National FFA Week showcases impact of organization (2026)
- Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive: 1992 national FFA convention report (Nov. 21, 1992)