Chuck Hassebrook
The Center for Rural Affairs in Lyons, Neb., announced this week that Chuck Hassebrook, the center’s longtime executive director, will leave September 1 and that he will be replaced by Brian Depew, the assistant executive director.

Hassebrook, who has been director for 17 years and associated with the center for 36 years, announced on June 4 that he is running for governor of Nebraska. A former University of Nebraska regent, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in 2012.


Brian Depew
Depew served as acting executive director in 2012 while Hassebrook was a candidate in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate. Depew has also held the title of director of policy advocacy and outreach for the center and serves on the steering committee of RE-AMP, a regional coalition of more than 140 organizations and funders working for clean energy and climate solutions.

A native of rural Iowa, where his family still farms, Depew holds a master’s degree in philosophy from Colorado State University and completed additional graduate work at Michigan State University in sociology. He lives outside Lyons, where has a large garden and a small flock of sheep.