By:
Chuck Woods (352) 392-1773 x 281Source(s):
Michael Olexa olexa@fred.ifas.ufl.edu, (352) 392-1881, ext. 327
Cheryl Fields (NASULGC) cfields@nasulgc.org, (202) 478-6073
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Michael T. Olexa, professor with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), received the Food and Agriculture Sciences Excellence in College and University Teaching Award in Washington, D.C., Nov. 11.
The award, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC), is one of two honors given each year at the annual meeting of NASULGC. It includes a $5,000 stipend to be used by the recipient for improving teaching at their university.
The award was presented to Olexa by Joseph J. Jen, USDA undersecretary for research, education and economics at the 114th annual meeting of NASULGC. More than l,000 presidents, chancellors and other top administrators from the nation’s public research universities and land-grant colleges attended the conference.
C. Peter Magrath, president of NASULGC in Washington, D.C., said Olexa’s “record of exemplary teaching and university service, coupled with sound scholarship, provide a timely example of how university faculty members can effectively serve both the educational and professional needs of their institutions and the broader society.”
Olexa, who joined the faculty of UF’s food and resource economics department in 1980, teaches several courses in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) and directs the UF/IFAS Agricultural Law Center. He also is an adjunct professor in UF’s Levin College of Law.
A proponent of “action learning,” Olexa employs what he calls the “scavenger hunt,” giving students real-life situations and asking them to come up with solutions by utilizing agricultural case law studied in class.
In addition to the USDA/NASULGC award, Olexa has earned numerous state and national honors for teaching. He received the 2000 National Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) Teacher Fellow Award and the 1999 NACTA
Teaching Award of Merit; the 1999 Southern Agricultural Economics Association (Regional) Outstanding Teaching of a Course Award; and the 1998-99 Undergraduate Teacher of the Year Award in CALS.
Olexa also serves on the University of Florida Center for Excellence in Teaching Executive Committee.
Authorized by Congress in 1990, the Food and Agricultural Sciences Excellence in College and University Teaching Award generates nominations from a wide spectrum of departments in agriculture, natural resources, veterinary science and human science.
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