Agricultural Hall of Fame: John William Firor, Sr. was inducted into the University of Georgia, Agricultural Alumni Association Agricultural Hall of Fame at the Association's annual banquet on September 24, 1999. His imaginative leadership essentially developed the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Georgia.  In the late 1920's, he was asked to organize and chair the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology at what was then known as the Georgia State College of Agriculture.

Agricultural Alumni Association Awards for Excellence: Alumni from the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics received two of the three Awards for Excellence from the Agricultural Alumni Association.

Wilbur C. Mull (1963 BSA and 1965 M.S. in Agricultural Economics) received an Award for Excellence for his innovative work with the "Green Industry."  Mr. Mull is recognized throughout the  Green Industry" as both a local and national leader.  The company he founded in 1963, Classic Groundcovers, Inc., has grown into a multimillion dollar business.  It is the largest business of its kind, a wholesale nursery specializing in groundcover-only plants.

Lawrence A. Risse (1962 M.S. in Agricultural Economics) received an Award for Excellence for his work in marketing of agricultural products. During his career with the USDA, Mr. Risse conducted research around the world on the handling, packaging and transportation of agricultural products, mainly fruits and vegetables.   He examined methods of maintaining the quality of U. S. agricultural products, from production to arrival in the marketplace.  He has presented more than 70 papers in meetings worldwide and has had nearly 150 papers published in various journals.

Future of American Agriculture Symposium:  The National Symposium on the Future of American Agriculture held September 25-27, 1999 was a great success.  The opening sessions included presentations by Roy E. Barnes, Governor of Georgia; Paul Coverdell, Senior Senator from Georgia; Saxby Chambliss, Congressman of the 8th Congressional District, Georgia; Karen Holbrook, Senior Vice President and Provost, and Gale Buchanan, Dean and Director.  Technical sessions addressed several aspects of the future of American agriculture.   Some of the topics included "Global Economy and Trade Policy," "Profitability and Ownership," "Dealing with Instability in Agriculture," and "Environmental Quality, Research Management and Food Safety."  Presentations were also made by Senator Max Cleland, Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin and Farm Bureau President Wayne Dollar. There were many excellent presentations by leading agricultural economists and agribusiness leaders from throughout the country.
 
Special Recognition Ceremony: The Agricultural and Applied Economics Department honored Robert Shulstad for ten years of  leadership as Department Head at a special recognition ceremony on April 10, 1999. Special guests included his wife, Carol, and their children and grandchildren. The ceremony was well attended by College administrators and departmental faculty, staff and students. A portrait of Dr. Shulstad, which was unveiled at the ceremony, will be prominently displayed in the department to commemorate his leadership in the department. Among his many accomplishments as Department Head included the development of two new undergraduate majors - Agribusiness and Environmental Economics and Management - and a new M.S. degree - Environmental Economics.
 
Coordinator of the Office of Environmental Sciences:  The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences  announced the establishment of the Office of Environmental Sciences and the appointment of  Robert Shulstad as Coordinator, effective September 1, 1999.  Dr. Shulstad will devote half of his time to the new office and continues as a faculty member in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics for the other half of his time.

Editor of the American Journal of Agricultural Economics: Michael Wetzstein has been named editor of the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, which is the leading journal in the discipline. He will serve as editor for two years, beginning January, 2000.

Undergraduate Awards Ceremony: The Outstanding Senior Award for the 1998-1999 year went to Mr. Brian Holmes from Woodstock, Georgia.  Brian is an Honors student and an EEM major with a 3.84 GPA.  He plans to attend law school in the fall of 1999.

Steve Turner received the outstanding undergraduate teacher award from the Agricultural and Environmental Economics Club for 1998-99. Other awards presented by the club included a staff service award to Doris Strickland and faculty service awards for the club's advisors, Chris McIntosh and John Bergstrom.
 
Graduate Awards Ceremony:  Jan Wojciechowski received the Outstanding Ph.D. Student Award and Craig Landry received the Outstanding M.S. Student Award for 1999.  Jan is employed with American Express in Phoenix, AZ and Craig is working toward a Ph.D. at the
University of Maryland.

The 1999 Rod Ziemer Outstanding Ph.D. Paper Awards were presented to Ecio Costa and to Irfan Tareen. The 1999 Rod Ziemer Outstanding M.S. Paper Award was presented to Izuchukwu Onunkwo.

Glenn Ames received the Outstanding Graduate Faculty Award for 1999. This is the second year in a row that he has won the award.
 
Saxby Chambliss Internship:  Lee Hall was selected as  the 1999 Saxby Chambliss  Agricultural Intern.  He is a senior from Nashville, Georgia, majoring in agribusiness.   He spent the summer in Washington, D.C. working with Congressman Chambliss's staff on agricultural issues and policy.  He provided excellent support for Congressman Chambliss' agricultural efforts in Washington.
 
Undergraduate Achievements: Several of our undergraduates have some notable achievements recently.  Camille Tribble (AEC) recently published an article, "Georgia Cotton Acreage Response to the boll Weevil Eradication Program" with Chris McIntosh and Michael Wetzstein in the Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, 31(1999).  Camille is now a graduate student at the University of California at Davis.

Carol Spruill (AEC) has been elected to the position of national FFA Vice President for 1999-2000.  She will be spending a year performing duties as Vice President and will return to UGA in the spring of 2001.

Personnel Changes: Jeffrey Mullen has accepted the Agricultural Production and Environmental Interface  position in Athens.

Nathan Smith has accepted the Field Crop Economics position in Tifton, Georgia.  He will have major responsibilities for peanuts.

Chris McIntosh has resigned from his faculty position in the department to take a faculty position at the University of Idaho.

Andy Keeler is on a year's study leave with the U.S. Environmental  Protection Agency in Durham, North Carolina from September 1, 1999 to August 31, 2000.

Should You Be Thinking About Graduate School?
Many of our alumni may not know about the  opportunities our department offers for advanced degrees.  At the masters degree level, we offer three degree options: Master of Science in Agricultural Economics, Master of Science in Environmental Economics, and Master of Agricultural Economics (professional, non-thesis option).  The department also offers a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics.  At the Ph.D. and Masters levels, students can concentrate their studies in a broad range of specialties including marketing, production, consumer demand, international trade, natural resource management, environmental policy, and rural development.

For qualified students, the department offers financial assistance through graduate research assistantships.  These assistantships provide opportunities for students to gain valuable research and work experience by working with faculty supervisors and mentors on research projects 14 hours per week.  In return, students receive a tuition waiver and are paid a stipend of $11,688 per year for M.S. students and $12,456 for Ph.D. students.

For more information on our graduate program, see the departmental web page at www.agecon.uga.edu or contact our Graduate Coordinator, Dr. John Bergstrom at 706-542-0749 or jbergstrom@agecon.uga.edu.

Request for Alumni News: The Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics is interested in hearing from our alumni.  Please inform us of your current job position or other significant accomplishments.  This information can be sent by e-mail to the following address: AAECON@AGECON.UGA.EDU or mailed to the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Rm. 301 Conner Hall, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-7509.