Tommy Irvin is the longest serving Commissioner of Agriculture in the United States as well as the longest serving statewide official in Georgia. He has served as Georgia’s Commissioner of Agriculture since 1969. He was elected to his 10th four- year term this past November 2006.
Commissioner Irvin is recognized nationally for his service as an agriculture leader with broad experiences and keen insights. He continues to be sought after on the local, state and regional levels not only for his knowledge and experience but also for his political acumen in working with diverse groups and individuals.
Irvin is the only Georgian to serve as president of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA). Twice, he has served terms as president of the Southern United States Trade Association (SUSTA), an organization which promotes the export of Southern food and agricultural products as well as the Southern Association of State Departments of Agriculture (SASDA) of which he was a founder.
Among his many honors and awards are: Progressive Farmer magazine Man-of-the-Year in Service to Agriculture, National Award for Agricultural Excellence, National Agri-Marketing Association, National Future Farmers of America Honorary American Farmer Degree, and Southeastern Poultry and Egg Association’s “Workhorse of the Year” award, presented at the International Poultry Exposition and considered to be the most prestigious recognition bestowed by the poultry industry.
Irvin has been inducted into the Georgia Agrirama Hall of Fame, the Vidalia Onion Hall of Fame, the Georgia Seed Association Hall of Fame, the Habersham County Hall of Fame, and the University of Georgia College of Agriculture Hall of Fame and has received the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine’s Distinguished Service Award.
For his many years of public service, Irvin was named “Democrat of the Year” and received the Richard B. Russell Public Service Award and the 2005 Jefferson Jackson Day HOPE Award.
A Georgia native, Tommy Irvin was elected to his first public office as a member of the Habersham County Board of Education in 1956. Later, he served as chairman of his school board and president of the Georgia School Boards Association. Because of his many years of hard work and dedication to improving education, he was given an honorary lifetime membership in the Parent-Teacher Association of Georgia and the Georgia School Food Service Association.
Elected to four terms in the Georgia General Assembly as a Representative from Habersham County, Irvin served on the House Agriculture, Education, and Appropriations Committees and chaired the House Industrial Relations Committee and the Governor's Conference on Education. He was the Governor’s Floor Leader and later served as Executive Secretary to the Governor.
Irvin is a Thirty-Third Degree Scottish Rite Mason and served as Grand Master of Masons in Georgia. He is also a Shriner, a member of Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity, an honorary member of Alpha Zeta Honor Fraternity, a member of the Gridiron and AGHON Societies of the University of Georgia, former Chair, and member of the Board of Trustees of Truett-McConnell College, and currently a trustee of Piedmont College.
Commissioner Irvin and his wife, Bernice, live on a farm in the Glade Creek Community of Habersham County. They are the parents of five children, 14 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.