By:
Chuck Woods (352) 392-1773 x 281Source(s):
Mike Martin mvm@mail.ifas.ufl.edu, (352)392-1971
John Gordon gordon@fred.ifas.ufl.edu, (352)392-1826 ext. 206
William Messina messina@fred.ifas.ufl.edu, (352)392-1826 ext. 308
GAINESVILLE, Fla.—William A. Messina, Jr., coordinator of economic analysis in the University of Florida’s Food and Resource Economics Department, has been named interim chair of the department, effective March 1, according to an announcement by Mike Martin, UF vice president for agriculture and natural resources.
Messina replaces John Gordon, a professor who has served as chair of the department since 1996 and recently announced his intention to retire.
In his role as interim chair, Messina will handle budget and administrative matters, and will call on several senior faculty members to share responsibility for program leadership in the department, which is part of UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. A department task force will begin a national search for candidates to serve as permanent chair, Martin said.
Since Messina joined the department in 1989, his research and extension efforts have focused on agricultural trade policy issues of importance to Florida agriculture. In 1999, he received the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s “Superior Service Award” from Secretary Dan Glickman for his program activities. Prior to his work at UF, Messina spent 11 years in private sector agribusiness marketing and management.
Under Gordon’s leadership, the department more than doubled its graduate enrollment to over 100 students, and initiated a Master of Agribusiness degree and a distance education Master of Agriculture degree with an agribusiness specialization. A new teaching program with four new faculty was developed at the Indian River Research and Education Center in Ft. Pierce. The department also expanded undergraduate offerings, including the nation’s first agricultural law minor.
During the same period, faculty and students in the department received more professional association awards than any other peer department in the nation for quality teaching. The department sponsored several national and international agricultural policy conferences. Outside funding was doubled.
Formal linkages and cooperative programs were strengthened with the University of the West Indies in Trinidad, University of Veracruz in Mexico, and ESPOL University in Ecuador.
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