Eric Brown, general manager of KRVN in Lexington, has named the Nebraska Hall of Agricultural Achievement's 120th honoree. The recognition came at the Hall's annual banquet.

Brown became general manager of KRVN in 1979, continuing the family tradition his father, long-time KRVN general manager, the late Max Brown, began.

Under Brown's leadership, the Nebraska Rural Radio Association has grown to blanket the state with agricultural information with the purchase of KNEB in Scottsbluff in 1984 and KTIC in West Point in 1997. This Rural Radio Network is the only farmer-rancher-owned radio group in the U.S.

In 2005, Brown helped originate and currently serves as president of the Rural Lifestyle Marketing, LLC, a group of legacy stations covering 16 markets in the upper Midwest. Brown has served on more than two dozen statewide boards and was recently elected to serve on the board of directors for the National Association of Broadcasters.

Brown received his bachelor's degree from UNL in 1967, his master's degree from the University of Missouri in 1968 and then taught at South Dakota State University. In 1975, he received his doctorate degree from Ohio University and returned to SDSU as director of educational media and manager of KESD.

His wife, Ruth, is an associate professor of communications at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. They have three children.

The Nebraska Hall of Agricultural Achievement, formed in 1916, has about 200 members statewide dedicated to preserving and improving Nebraska agriculture. Each year, the group recognizes at least one honoree and elects new members. This year's new members are:

Homer Buell of Bassett is a leader in the ranching industry and an innovator in ranch management practices. He is past president of the Nebraska Cattlemen, Nebraska Hereford and American Hereford Association. He is a member of the Agriculture Builders of Nebraska Inc. Buell graduated from UNL in 1971.

James Barr of York is a farmer and public service leader. He was ag and natural resource assistant for Rep. Doug Bereuter from 1979 to 2001 and Nebraska state director, USDA Rural Development from 2001 to 2005. He served as a member of the Soil and Water Conservation Society, Nebraska Angus Association and Nebraska Cattlemen. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from UNL.

Ann Bruntz of Friend is the University of Nebraska Foundation's IANR development director. She is a partner in the family's farming and cattle feeding operation, Bruntz Farming and Feeding Inc. She is past president of the Nebraska Cattlemen's Research and Education Foundation, past member of Agriculture Builders of Nebraska board and former executive secretary of the Cattlemen's Ball of Nebraska Advisory Board. She also has traveled to Japan, China and South America on agricultural promotion efforts.

Douglas Gibson of Lincoln is the chief administrator and secretary/treasurer of Nebraska Farm Bureau and Affiliated Co. He is highly regarded by leaders in agriculture, education, business and state government. He is a member of the Agriculture Builders of Nebraska. He served on the Nebraska 4-H Development Foundation, including a term as president, and is former chair of the Nebraska LEAD Council. He received a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Wyoming.

Marvin Large of Imperial is a farmer/rancher who has served on the Upper Republican Natural Resource District board from 1975 to 1990, the first NRD to recognize and put to use management controls on groundwater. His farming enterprise includes a cow-calf herd and selling bulls. He has been an innovator in artificial insemination and has received recognition for his portable AI barn that he and his wife, Arlene, manufacture and sell.

Don McCabe of Lincoln is editor of the Nebraska Farmer. A UNL journalism graduate, he began his career at the York News-Times. He has been with Nebraska Farmer since 1977. McCabe is a highly respected agricultural journalist and has received numerous awards for his work and in-depth reporting from numerous agricultural organizations, commodity boards and others, including the Nebraska Corn Board, American Agricultural Editors Association, UNL Extension, the Nebraska Pork Producers Association and Natural Resource District boards.

John Miller of Murdock is a petroleum engineer, farmer and small business owner. His production agriculture enterprise includes corn, soybeans, cattle and hogs. He began marketing high-quality horse and dairy hay to diversify his operation and then started a pet food business that employs more than 40 people. He and has received several awards, including Outstanding Nebraska LEAD Alumni as well as awards dealing with forage quality production and marketing. A UNL graduate, he is past president of the Nebraska Alfalfa Marketing Association and Elmwood-Murdock School Board.

Earle Raun of Lincoln, entomologist, is the owner of Pest Management Consultants. Raun became head of the UNL's Department of Entomology in 1966. He played a key role in taking integrated pest management from the lab and test plots to farms in Nebraska and the region. He was associate dean of Extension in IANR from 1970-1974. In 1974, he resigned from UNL to create his own consulting firm based upon integrated pest management principals. He has served as president of the National Alliance of Independent Crop Consultants.

Carol Thayer of Lincoln is a retired UNL Department of Textiles Clothing and Design interim chair and extension specialist. She has been visionary at designing education programs to adjust emerging needs. She served more than 12 years as small scale entrepreneurship program coordinator. In 1992, she was a key force in developing the Nebraska Home Based Business Association. She has produced hundreds of programs, workshops and publications to improve the quality of life for Nebraskans.