Dr. Tanya Hodges
Dr. Tanya Hodges leads the Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture as the new Executive Director. YCEDA is a public-private partnership launched in 2014 to provide fast-track solutions to high-priority issues identified by the desert agricultural industry, including increasing production efficiencies through disease and water management, maximizing crop yield and food safety, and developing new technology. A Yuma native, Hodges' family roots in Yuma County extend six generations. Growing up in a family deeply connected to farming, she developed a passion for the industry and its related business, science, and technology fields. As a Yuma County native, Dr. Hodges brings her knowledge and passion for the community and agriculture to her work.
Before her position as Executive Director at YCEDA, Dr. Tanya Hodges was an accomplished educator and the UA Yuma Distance Academic Program Manager/ Executive Director of Workforce Initiatives and Grant Development for nearly 18 years, advocating on behalf of students in La Paz, Imperial, and Yuma counties. Charged with building and growing the UA Yuma campus, Dr. Hodges has helped countless students access higher education through the UAYuma Academic Center, expanding the UAYuma Distance Campus into a higher education resource that offers Yuma and Imperial Valley students 20 majors while working with regional industries and agencies to ensure that the degree programs will serve the surrounding communities and provide successful life trajectories for graduates while filling workforce gaps.
Dr. Hodges earned a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Education in agricultural education from UArizona, graduating from the College of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences. She would then earn her Doctor of Education in Innovation and Leadership from Arizona State University. Tanya lectures for the university, teaching upper-level agricultural systems management and plant sciences courses. Over the course of her career, she has been awarded the Yuma County Farmer of the Year, the CALES Young Achievers Award in 1998, the CALES Outstanding Achievement Award in 2010, the UA Award for Excellence, and the UAAA Sidney S. Woods Alumni Service Award. Tanya has been married to Pat Hodges for 37 years, and they have four children and nine grandchildren.