Florida SFRC Director Named
Timothy White, a University of Florida professor of forest genetics, has been named director of UF's School of Forest Resources and Conservation.
Timothy White, a University of Florida professor of forest genetics, has been named director of UF’s School of Forest Resources and Conservation. He succeeds Wayne Smith, who retired June 30 after more than 38 years of UF service, including eight years as director of the school. In announcing the appointment, UF Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources Mike Martin said White has a wealth of expertise and experience to lead the school’s statewide teaching, research and extension programs. The school is part of UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, or IFAS.“We are fortunate to have a faculty member with his range of experience in Florida’s $8 billion forest resources and conservation industry available for this important leadership position,” Martin said. “Tim White has worked extensively with forests in Florida and the Southeast, and he has an impressive array of international experience as well.”White joined the UF school in 1985 as director of the Cooperative Forest Genetics Program, which consists of 13 private companies and state agencies. These organizations have been working together since 1950 to breed varieties of Southern pines that grow faster and are more disease resistant. In 1996, he became director of the Forest Biology Research Cooperative, in which a team of scientists and cooperative members seeks to understand the biological mechanisms controlling forest health and productivity. Prior to joining the IFAS faculty, White worked for International Paper Company in Oregon from 1979 to 1985 as a forest geneticist, biometrician and manager of technical services. He has authored 75 refereed research publications and has taught graduate courses in quantitative genetics, population genetics, forest genetics, and plantation health and productivity. He has international experience in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, Venezuela, South Africa and Zimbabwe.White received his bachelor’s degree in forestry from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1973 and his master’s degree in biochemistry and forestry from North Carolina State University in 1975. He received his doctoral degree in forest genetics from Oregon State University in 1980.
