Dr. Maddox (center) with University of Mount Olive students who earned their American FFA Degree after she received her VIP Citation Award.
In 2023, Dr. Sandy Maddox received a VIP Citation Award from the National FFA Organization — an organization she hadn’t known existed while growing up. Raised in Charlotte, North Carolina’s largest city, she had little exposure to agriculture or FFA. Yet, through hard work and dedication, Dr. Maddox has made a lasting impact on agriculture. Her story is a powerful reminder of the impact opportunity can have in shaping a remarkable career.
Where It Began, How It Evolved
Dr. Maddox began her journey in agriculture when she attended North Carolina State University, where she worked three jobs — one of them in a lab in the soil science department. “I started out as a bottle washer and got to do some field work,” she says. “I was just working to pay my way through college.”
After earning her degree in conservation, she accepted a position as an agriculture field research technician in the soils department. “I didn’t know which direction my career would take me,” Dr. Maddox says. “But I did know I would not have enjoyed an office job, which is why I loved working in the research stations. We were outside five days a week.”
After spending a few years with her hands in the soil, her curiosity about how research findings were used led her to Cooperative Extension. “I always wondered where the information we gathered in research went,” she says. “Through Extension, I was getting the word out about what the research was. It was kind of a full-circle moment after working at the research stations for some time.”
Her dedication and curiosity continued to open new doors. Four years later, Dr. Maddox was promoted to county Extension director. Later, she was chosen as the first female superintendent for a research station. “I was just doing,” she adds.
It was during this time working in Cooperative Extension that she earned her master’s in soil science, and an Ed.D. in community college and higher education. “I had no clear vision of where I was going, but took advantage of every opportunity that was given to me,” she says.
Her growing expertise soon caught the attention of state leaders. Dr. Maddox later got a call to apply for an assistant director position for the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, and throughout the next 10 years, she served under four commissioners of agriculture — an impressive time marked by leadership and service to the agricultural community.
University of Mount Olive
After three decades in government service, a new opportunity arose at the University of Mount Olive (UMO). Dr. Maddox was hired as the director of the agribusiness center, a role that would eventually lead her to help establish the School of Agriculture and Biological Sciences.
“My 30 years in government prepared me for UMO,” she says. Retiring from service in government, she saw an opportunity to give back, using the network she had built to offer opportunities for her students and strengthen the university’s agriculture programs.
Serving in different capacities as a professor, director of the agribusiness center and division chair, Dr. Maddox was inevitably named as the founding dean. Reflecting on her time as a professor, she said, “When I got here and saw the capabilities of the kids that had been involved in FFA, it really was striking to me. They set a good example for their peers. It really makes you realize what FFA can do for students.”
Although she had never been involved in FFA growing up, seeing its positive impact inspired her to serve as the advisor for a collegiate FFA chapter and convinced the university’s administration to support UMO students earning their American FFA Degrees to attend the National FFA Convention & Expo.
“It was important to me that the students get recognized on the national stage for their hard work,” Dr. Maddox says. “It resonated with me because I used to have troubles financially [in college], and I felt it was important to relieve that financial burden. Those were fun times. I loved watching them grow from first-year students till they graduated.”
After 16 years with UMO, where she retired as dean, Dr. Maddox now serves as the special projects coordinator, overseeing the development of a brand-new educational livestock facility, a vision she began shaping during her time as dean.
Reflecting on Her Journey
Today, Dr. Maddox looks back with gratitude. “If you look at agriculture overall, I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of every bit of it,” she says. “I have been very blessed to have the opportunity to do so.
“If I had been given an open book to plan what my career in agriculture would look like — or that I would even have been in agriculture — I wouldn’t have known what to say. My best advice? Do not turn down an opportunity you are given, even if you don’t know where you’re going with it. That and hard work have given me the opportunity to do what I’ve done in agriculture.”
From washing bottles in a college lab to leading statewide agricultural initiatives and shaping the future generations of agriculturists, Dr. Maddox exemplifies leadership through service. Her career stands as a testament of the power of seizing opportunity when it is presented.
