Dr. Gossen 45 Years

Nebraska Ag Education Recognizes Dr. Larry Gossen for 45 Years of Service

Dr. Larry Gossen currently serves as the Dean of the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in Curtis. Larry graduated with his bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University in 1977 and spent the next 24 years teaching Agriculture Education at Elk Valley and Neodesha High Schools, both in Southeast Kansas. The opportunity to move to the Kansas State Department of Education became available, and he took the job as the State Supervisor for Education and State FFA Advisor in Topeka, Kansas. He served in this position for four years.

In 2005, Larry joined the National FFA Organization in Indianapolis, Indiana, as a Local Program Success Specialist. Then in 2008, he accepted the position as Senior Team Leader for the Local Program Success team. In 2013, Larry returned to the field as a Local Program Success Specialist serving nine states in the north central United States from Kansas to North Dakota, east to Illinois. This is where Larry became the most familiar with Nebraska Team Ag Ed.

Larry took early retirement from the National FFA Organization in 2018. After a few months of time off and pondering other options, the Nebraska Department of Education came calling and asked Larry to consider a job as the Nebraska State FFA Advisor. He accepted that position and started in August 2019.

In June 2020, in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, Larry took on a new role as the Dean of NCTA. Larry is married to Fay, his wife of almost 47 years. He has two children. His daughter, Ambur, is a horticulturist working for the Springfield, Missouri Parks Department. Son Robb, his wife Amy, and two grandchildren live in Gorham, Maine, where Robb serves as the senior pastor of the Stroudwater Christian Church.

Larry also completed his master’s degree in 1982 from Kansas State University, then got his doctoral degree from, you guessed it, Kansas State University in 2011. If you ever wonder where Larry will be on a Saturday Afternoon during football season, he’ll either be in front of a TV or in Manhattan at a Wildcat Football game. He does admit that his second favorite team is the Nebraska Cornhuskers.