By:
Chuck Woods (352) 392-1773 ext. 281Source(s):
Chelston Brathwaite chelston.bratwaite@iica.ac.cr, (506)-216-0222
Carlton Davis cgdavis@ifas.ufl.edu, (352) 392-1881 ext. 313
Don Poucher info@ifas.ufl.edu, (352) 392-0437
GAINESVILLE, Fla.—Chelston Brathwaite, director general of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in San Jose, Costa Rica, will be the featured speaker March 30 in the 2005 York Distinguished Lecturer Series at the University of Florida.
Brathwaite, whose topic will be “Agriculture and Rural Life in the Americas in the 21st Century,” will speak at 7 p.m. at the Reitz Union on the UF campus in Gainesville. A reception will follow his presentation, which is free and open to the public.
A native of Barbados, Brathwaite joined IICA in 1981 as a regional plant protection specialist for the Caribbean region. He served as IICA representative in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, as well as executive secretary of a program to foster cooperation in agriculture between Caribbean and Latin American countries (CARILAC).
Brathwaite — recognized for his administrative, technical and institutional leadership in international agricultural development — has also worked in Italy, Kenya, Mexico and the United States.
He speaks English and is fluent in Spanish. One of his books, on the diagnosis of plant disease, has been updated and translated into Spanish, and is used in colleges and universities in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Carlton Davis, a distinguished service professor in the food and resource economics department at UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, said Brathwaite is a team player who works well with all kinds of people, achieving success by building consensus.
“His satisfaction comes from a job done well, on time and under budget,” said Davis, who is hosting Brathwaite’s visit to UF. “Chelston Brathwaite is able to motivate others to excellence and to get the job done despite obstacles. He thrives on challenges and tough assignments and believes that work should be fulfilling and financially rewarding.”
Brathwaite has a bachelor of science degree in agriculture from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago; a doctorate in plant pathology from Cornell University, and a diploma in agricultural development with distinction from the University of London. He has also completed courses in executive management. Prior to his current position at IICA, Brathwaite served as director of the management unit for the coordination of regional operations at the institute.
The York Distinguished Lecturer Series was established in 1984 through an endowment from E.T. York and Vam York. As provost of agriculture and vice president for agriculture and natural resources at UF from 1963 to 1973, York brought together the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the Florida Cooperative Extension Service and the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station under a single administrative umbrella of the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS).
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