Fresno State President Joseph I. Castro announced the appointment of alumna Karri Hammerstrom of Kingsburg to the University Advisory Board, a panel of community members who provide advice on improvement and development of the University.

Hammerstrom is a peach, plum and grape farmer and the immediate past state president for California Women for Agriculture. She is also Reedley College’s Agriculture Projects coordinator for its U.S. Department of Labor grant-funded Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training program and teaches classes at Reedley College on career preparation and leadership in agriculture.  She was a 2014 fellow in the E. Kika De La Garza Fellowship Program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

She has served in both the public and private sectors involving agricultural policy, land use planning, environmental regulations, renewable energy, grant writing and management, legislative analysis and advocacy, and local government in the Central San Joaquin Valley, Southern California and the Central Coast.

She is member of Fresno State’s Kremen School of Education and Human Development Community Council and Cal Poly-SLO’s Agricultural and Education and Communication Department Advisory Council. She served two terms on the Fresno State Alumni Association executive board of directors.

Hammerstrom earned a Master of Public Administration degree with honors from  Fresno State and a bachelor of science in city and regional planning with a minor in agribusiness from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.  She and her husband Bill have two children.

“Karri brings a depth of understanding of California agriculture and education to the advisory board,” said Castro. I look forward to having her voice on the board as we work together to serve the University.”

The University Advisory Board, chaired by Sandy Brown, includes members Juan Arambula, Nancy Ayala, Armen Bacon, Barry Bedwell, Noemi Donoso, Katherine Flores, Jessica Lawrence, Will Lyles, J. Michael McGowan, James Shekoyan, Eddie Tan, Julie Tone and Zoua Vang.