HUTCHINSON— The Kansas State Fair has a new General Manager.

At a press conference Tuesday morning Robin Jennison, the current Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism secretary was named to replace Susan Sankey.

She resigned in January to work for the Kansas 4-H Foundation.

Jennison said he is as excited about this opportunity as any he has ever had.

“Agriculture has been my life but to leave KDWP&T, we’ve done a lot of change since I came in to the agency. The biggest is we brought tourism over and made a lot of changes in parks. Even if I had been offered the opportunity to stay after this election, I likely would only have wanted to stay for two years. When you’ve gone under as much change as the department, it’s time to get some fresh eyes.”

Jennison takes on the job with the fair as it begins to venture into new territory and a possible major overhaul with the recent passage of the sales tax bill and work on a new master plan for the fairgrounds:

Raised on a ranch near Healy, in western Kansas, Jennison made a failed run for governor in 2006. He left the Legislature after 10 years in 2000. He’s since pursued several jobs.

Jennison has a degree in animal science from Kansas State University.