This October, Dr. Kimberly L. Morgan from the University of Florida Food and Resource Economics Department received the Food Distribution Research Society’s Frank Panyko Distinguished Service Award at the 65th annual meeting. The award recognizes her continuous and outstanding leadership and service to FDRS and its members.
Morgan is the second ever from the University of Florida to receive this prestigious award, with the first being UF/IFAS Food and Resource Economics professor emeritus Dr. Robert Degner in 2007.
Morgan, who joined the UF/IFAS Southwest Florida Research and Extension Center in 2020, is an associate professor of Food and Resource Economics and an Extension Economist.
A triple Gator-grad, she earned her B.S. in Animal Science and M.S. and Ph.D. in Food and Resource Economics from the University of Florida.
After earning her M.S., Morgan served as the coordinator for our Florida Agricultural Market Research Center for eight years and pursued her Ph.D. advised by now-Florida Sea Grant Director Dr. Sherry Larkin. She was on the faculty at Mississippi State University and at Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University before returning to her UF/IFAS roots.
Throughout all stops in her career, Morgan has been involved with the FDRS, publishing one of her first-ever papers through their research Journal of Food Distribution Research.
“My FDRS connections make the Board more like my family, even for someone like me who has moved around a lot,” Morgan said.
She has served on the board in various roles since 2013, when she started as the treasurer, taking over from Dr. Ken Hood of Mississippi State.
“He was my mentor, and I wanted to be like him when I grew up,” Morgan said.
Just as she found mentorship and camaraderie through FDRS with colleagues such as Dr. Patrick Bryne, Dr. Dawn McFadden, Dr. Clint Neill, and so many others, she intentionally seeks ways to forge new connections with younger field members through the Food Distribution Research Society now.
“They did for me, and I want to give back,” Morgan said. “Especially when you are starting out as a beginning student, there can be the worry that no one will come to your sessions, or it will be a huge deal if you make a mistake – it’s not like that at FDRS. We’re people that like connecting, sharing what we learned, and are interested in what each other are doing.”
Though the award was given to Morgan, she is emphatic that the work for which she was recognized was indeed that of the whole board and team of people involved with the organization.
“When they gave the award to me, I said – everyone in the room who has worked alongside me on a project, on the FDRS Board, on a committee, or as a mentor or mentee, should stand up – and nearly everyone did so.”
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