MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Bob Ratliff of Starkville is serving as the interim department head of Mississippi State University’s Office of Agricultural Communications.

Vance Watson, serving as MSU’s vice president for agriculture, forestry and veterinary medicine, appointed Ratliff to the interim task after the retirement of Tom Knecht on Feb. 29.

Prior to joining the Ag Communications staff in 1994, Ratliff served as farm director and vice president of the Progressive Farmer Radio Network and was the news anchor of Delta Daybreak at WXVT-TV in Greenville. He has also been a staff member of the Office of University Relations at MSU.

Ratliff has served as a regional vice president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters and was the organization’s 1987 Farm Broadcaster of the Year. He also is active in the Association for Communication Excellence and is a past chair of the organization’s writing special interest group and currently serves as the ACE state representative for Mississippi.

Ratliff, a Pontotoc County native, earned a bachelor’s in communications and a master of social science degree from MSU, as well as a bachelor’s in secondary education from the University of Mississippi. He co-authored a textbook for use in secondary schools in 1998, “Taking the Guesswork Out of Aquaculture.”

Ratliff and his wife, Linda, have two grown children, Chris and Heather, and one grandson.