Agricultural Foundation adds Del Bosque and Nury

(November 3, 2015) The Fresno State Agricultural Foundation announced the addition of Joe L. Del Bosque and Dianne S. Nury to its board of directors.

Del Bosque is owner of Del Bosque Farms in Firebaugh and a 1975 Fresno State plant science and agronomy graduate. The son of a migrant farmworker family, Del Bosque grows melons, both organic and conventional, almonds, asparagus, processing tomatoes and cherries on his 2,000-acre farm.

In October, he was honored as the 2015 Agriculturist of the Year by the Fresno Chamber of Commerce, and is a governor-appointed member of the nine-member California Water Commission. He is a member of the Central Valley Community Foundation Board of Directors and past chairperson for the AgSafe nonprofit association.

He is also known nationally after he hosted President Obama and Governor Brown on a visit in February 2014 to show the effects of the state drought on his farm.

Nury, a 1982 Fresno State business administration and marketing graduate, has served as president and CEO of the family-owned Vie-Del Company in Fresno since 1991.

One of the state’s largest bulk winery, distillery and fruit juice processing operations, it contracts with 1,000 growers in the Central Valley. She joined Vie-Del in 1985 and was named vice president in 1988.

She currently serves as the vice-chair of the Fresno State's Enology Industry Advisory Board and Saint Agnes Board of Directors and is a past chair of the Wine Institute and National Juice Products Association.

In 2010, she was named to the USDA Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee that advises U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on related issues.

The board of directors’ officers include chairperson Pat Ricchiuti, P-R Farms; vice chair Larry Layne, Sanwa Bank, retired; secretary and University President Dr. Joseph I. Castro; and treasurer Dan Errotabere, Errotabere Ranches.

Other members of the nine-person board include H. Clay Daulton, Daulton Ranch; Richard Matoian, American Pistachio Growers; and Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology Interim Dean Sandra Witte.

The foundation is comprised of 27 enterprise units that provide Fresno State students with hands-on experience by operating and managing the University Agricultural Laboratory.

The 1,000-acre University Agricultural Laboratory serves as a vital part of the education program for the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology and is used to support courses offered by the seven departments within the college. The Rue and Gwen Gibson Farm Market showcases and sells many of the products that are grown, harvested, processed, produced and created by Fresno State students.

More information on the Fresno State Agricultural Foundation is available at http://www.fresnostate.edu/agf/ .