Victor Ford named Southwest Center director
April 8, 2008Contact Information:
Victor Ford, director, Southwest Research and Extension Center
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HOPE, Ark. -- Victor L. Ford, who was an extension forester at the Southwest Research and Extension Center from 1983 to 1988, has returned to Hope as the center's director, University of Arkansas System Vice President for Agriculture Milo Shult announced recently. Ford began his duties as center director on April 7.
The Hope center is a unit of the U of A System's statewide Division of Agriculture. Faculty and staff conduct research and extension programs in forestry, livestock, forage crops, row crops, fruits, vegetables and ornamental plants. Faculty members also teach at the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope.
"By all accounts, Dr. Ford was an outstanding faculty member when he was here before, and we are delighted that he is returning to direct our programs at the Southwest Research and Extension Center," Shult said. "He is a skilled researcher with broad experience, and he is a proven leader with excellent communication skills and experience in technology transfer."
Ford joined the Division of Agriculture faculty shortly after receiving a Ph. D. degree in forestry in 1982 from Virginia Tech University. He has B.S. and M.S. degrees in forestry from the University of Tennessee. He has been with the Westvaco and later MeadWestvaco forest products company since 1988 in Kentucky, West Virginia and Alabama.
"I'm really honored and privileged to come back to Arkansas and serve in this capacity at the University," Ford said. I look forward to good things happening in agriculture in southwest Arkansas. It's a good time to be in a field where we can make a difference in areas such as alternative energy as well as our traditional programs such as beef cattle."
Ford is coming from Phenix City, Ala., where he was the senior principal forester in charge of a MeadWestvaco center that conducted research in Alabama and Georgia. Recently, he has been on temporary assignment to establish eucalyptus in east Texas as a pulp and energy crop. He has held leadership positions in national forestry, soil science and weed science societies.