John H. Behrens

John H. Behrens, professor emeritus of agricultural communications at the University of Illinois, has contributed to the effectiveness of agricultural communications and education throughout the U.S. and globally. Born at Greenview, Illinois, he developed strong agricultural interests through youth activities in FFA and 4-H. He studied agriculture at the University of Illinois and received his B.S. degree in 1942, during World War II. He then served for four years in the Signal Corps of the U.S. Army.

Following his military service, Professor Behrens taught vocational agriculture in Illinois schools for about nine years. In 1955 he joined the College of Agriculture, University of Illinois, as assistant extension editor and visual aids specialist, a position that he held until 1960. During that period he earned an M.S. degree in education from the University of Illinois (1956). In 1960 he became supervisor of conservation education with the Superintendent of Public Instruction, State of Illinois. Three years later he returned to the University of Illinois College of Agriculture to become instructional resources coordinator in the Office of Agricultural Communications. He provided leadership for 22 years in helping faculty members use new and existing educational technologies and methods to improve their teaching effectiveness.

Professor Behrens also contributed to agricultural communications and education, internationally:

• From 1968-1971 he served as communications and publications advisor for the establishment of a new agricultural university in India - J. Nehru Agricultural University, Jabalpur. This was a joint project of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the University of Illinois.
• During 1981 he was an agricultural communications consultant to Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesia, through a project with the University of Wisconsin.
• During several periods of the early 1980s he served as communications consultant in an Eastern Caribbean project of the Midwest Universities Consortium for International Agriculture (MUCIA). In that capacity, he worked with agriculture programs of the University of West Indies.
• In 1983 he helped a project team plan for instructional resources at the Northwest Frontier Province Agricultural University, Pashawar, Pakistan. This was a U.S. Agency for International Development project carried out jointly by the University of Illinois and Southern Illinois University.

Professor Behrens retired from the University of Illinois in 1985. He and his wife, Dorothy, have four children.

Users of the ACDC collection benefit from his contributions when they search for information about subjects such as the following:

• audiovisuals,
• effective methods for agricultural teaching and communicating
• exhibits

The Behrens Collection includes documents written by John H. Behrens.