Gale Buchanan, dean and director of the University of Georgia
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, has been
named
a 1999 Leader of the Year by Progressive
Farmer magazine.
Progressive
Farmer editors first began naming Leaders of the Year in
1943. The awards are based on the leader’s positive impact on
agriculture and work in the person’s own state.
A native of Madison County, Fla., Buchanan grew up on a
diversified
farm. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the
University
of Florida and a doctorate in plant physiology from Iowa State
University.
For 21 years he was a member of the Department of Agronomy
and Soils faculty at Auburn University. His primary teaching and
research responsibilities were in weed science.
While at Auburn, he developed and taught the university’s
first
weed science course. His research on how weeds affect crop yields
continues to benefit farmers in the Southeast today.
In 1980, he became dean and director of the Alabama
Agricultural
Experiment Station. He moved to Georgia in 1986 to accept the
positions of associate director of the Georgia Agricultural
Experiment
Stations and resident director of the Coastal Plain Experiment
Station.
Five years ago he assumed his present position as CAES dean
and director.
In Buchanan’s commendation, PF editors cite Buchanan
for “leading the charge in ensuring that land-grant ag
colleges
survive and endure in our society.”
The editors also applaud Buchanan for confronting critics who
say only 20 land-grant ag colleges in the United States will be
needed by 2020.
“As ag colleges face challenges in the form of immediate
budget concerns and questions over their long-term
viability,”
the editors write, “Gale Buchanan can be counted upon as
a solid champion for their cause.”
Besides his career in agriculture, Buchanan was a
distinguished
military graduate from the University of Florida ROTC program.
He went on to serve in several military roles, including
commandant
of the Alabama Military Academy. He served in the Army National
Guard for more than 35 years and retired in 1991 with the rank
of colonel.
