Michael C. Ingram is a Supervisory Operations Research Analyst for the U.S. Army. He is a division chief and study director for a variety of projects supporting Army transformation. He leads and supports the development of operational and tactical-level scenarios to support combat simulation modeling and other qualitative war-games. He also leads and supports the analysis of Army force structures, systems, and tactics. In the course of his work, Michael writes analysis plans and reports to document project efforts for decision-makers. These projects involve numerous personnel and agencies. In addition, he has authored or co-authored technical reports, monographs and independent evaluation reports, and scripted briefings and presentations.
Michael received a B.S.A. in Agricultural Economics with a minor in Statistics in 1975 and an M.S. in Agricultural Economics with a minor in Management Science in 1982, both from the University of Georgia. He received a Ph.D. in Geography with a minor in Economics from the University of Kansas in 1996.
The Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at UGA, along with key faculty members, has had a tremendous impact on the shaping of Michael's life. In the following, Michael credits some of our faculty with positive influences in his life altering decisions.
"The Department is for everyone. While I did not have a farm background and have never yet worked full time in agriculture, my experiences in the department positioned me to take advantage of a variety of non-agricultural opportunities over time. I changed my major to Agricultural Economics as an undergraduate and no less than Dr. Brannen, the Department Chairman, welcomed me to the department. That might have been expected, but he even kept me as an advisee all the way through my bachelor's degree. Between Dr. Brannen's help, and that of Dr. White, who was essentially my mentor, I managed to get out of school the first time in good shape and go on to serve my commitment on active duty as an Army Officer.
Thanks to Dr. White, I was heartily welcomed back to the states and the department after five years in Europe. During graduate school I thought about not finishing my masters degree several times, but stuck it out because of him. Besides encouraging me to finish the degree, department faculty members influenced the course of my entire life in two other significant ways. Dr. Lewell Gunter, my advisor, introduced me to the world of management science and operations research, and pushed me to go beyond the minimum of any requirements to strengthen my credentials and skills. He is largely responsible for me being in a position today to do what I want. Second, Dr. Wen Williams encouraged me to give the Army Reserves a try. Thanks to his encouragement, I am a retired Army Reserve Lieutenant Colonel today and will begin receiving retirement pay when I reach 60, as well as provide further for my wife once I'm gone. I would never have done it without a little friendly encouragement at the right time. This is what the department has always been about.
I always had trouble with taking calculus, so I didn't pursue the doctorate there like I should have done. However, I finally finished a Ph.D. in 1996, in Geography at the University of Kansas, working with a similar great group of faculty. Subsequently, I even completed calculus for credit. In this country you may do anything you want -- the people in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Georgia can make it highly possible for you."
For the past ten years, Wesley Sparks has been employed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development which was formerly known as the Farmers' Home Administration. He is the Community Development Manager for Gainesville and Hartwell, serving 13 counties in North Georgia. Wesley supervises a staff of six and insists that the success of his organization is a group effort, giving credit to his "excellent" staff. His office provides first-time home ownership opportunities to very low, low, and moderate income applicants with 100% financing and no down payment and also helps people with home improvement loans. Wesley and his staff closed 195 loans totaling $18,850,000 in 2003.
Wesley graduated from the UGA Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics with a B.S.A. in Agricultural Economics in 1991. After graduation, he worked on his family farm in Mansfield, Georgia until he accepted his current position with USDA. He regrets not being more active during his college years. His priority was "just staying in school." Wesley has some advice for current students in the department. "Network – take all the classes you can in public speaking. You need to have good communication skills."
In his leisure time, Wesley works on his family farm. He is planning to be married in the spring of 2004.
