Angus Chidebelu is a full Professor at the Department of Agricultural Economics, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria. This is the first indigenous University in Nigeria established at independence in 1960. Angus has acted as the Head of Department(1991-1994), Associate Dean, Faculty of Agriculture(2000-2001), Head, Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Delta state University, Asaba Campus (2001-2002). He has acted as visiting lecturer to: Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu, Nigeria; Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Nigeria; Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria; and Delta State University, Asaba Campus. In these Universities, Dr. Chidebelu was instrumental in actualizing their graduate programs. For example, Angus Chidebelu supervised the first successful graduate student at Delta state University (Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension) and Michael Okpara University of agriculture. Angus has acted as an external examiner to various tertiary institutions at the Masters, Post-graduate Diploma(PGD), National Certificate of Education(NCE) and Higher National Diploma(HND) levels. He has successfully produced at least six (6) PH.D and 35 M.Sc. and PGD holders.
Angus Chidebelu received a PH.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Georgia in 1980, an M.S. degree in agricultural Economics (Agribusiness) from the University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario,Canada in 1977, and a B.Sc. degree in Agricultural Economics and Extension from the University of Nigeria in 1973, graduating as the best student and with a second class upper honors degree.
Angus Chidebelu is a member of the Gamma Sigma Delta, the honor society of agriculture in Georgia, a member of several professional organizations, and a recipient of the following, among others; German academic exchange scholarship, junior fellowship, Agricultural Economics prize for the best graduating student, Merit Award, South-eastern farming systems Network, and 1st. place winner, Saeeda Peer Mohammed contest for creative writing (UGA). He has also acted as chairman of several Faculty of Agriculture and University committees including post-graduate, curriculum, scholarship and Time-table. He is currently the Staff Adviser of the National Union of Cameroon Students, University of Nigeria chapter (1989-present), and Abagana undergraduate students Association(1990-present). At church and fellowship levels, he was the treasurer four(4) years, director of worship and chairman of the ushering committee of full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship international, Nsukka chapter, as well as a member of the Governing council, Christ Church Chapel, University of Nigeria .
Angus, is married to Felicia Chidebelu (UGA graduate) and has four children. He has consulted for local and international organization and has over 35 publications in National and international journals, including a co-authored book. Main hobbies are sports (many types), listening to music, watching movies and solving mundane problems of students.
Dr. Seunghun Joh, an environmental economist, is an Associate Fellow at the Korean Environment Institute in Seoul, Korea. His duties involve environmental policy analysis and economic assessment of environmental impacts. He has been awarded the 2003 Climate Protection Award for co-benefits analysis of climate protection. Since 1999, Seunghun has led the Integrated Environmental Strategies (IES) Project in South Korea. IES is a program that ties the tangible and immediate local air quality, health, and economic benefits to reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The IES assessment found that implementing GHG mitigation measures in Seoul between 2000 and 2020 would result in ancillary benefits of $22 (US) per ton carbon mitigated and avoid 40 to 120 premature deaths per year and 2,800 to 8,400 cases of asthma and other respiratory diseases per year. Since finishing the initial study in 2000, Seunghun has disseminated the results worldwide. He has also exhibited far-reaching domestic influence within a national policy that prioritizes pro-industrial development above environment and public health. His advocacy has resulted in the commissioning of a follow-up study at the national level.
Seunghun has given expert testimony in court cases addressing the environmental issues of the Tidal Flat Reclamation Project. This led to his appearing on prime time news of major national television two times in 2003 and several other television programs and newspapers. Also in 2003, he has worked on two ad hoc committees under the auspices of the Korean Prime Minister to resolve controversial environmental problems, and he has worked on a task force for reorganizing the Presidential Commission for Sustainable Development. In addition, Seunghun is on an advisory committee, a steering committee of the Korea Federation of Environmental Movement, the largest environmental NGO in Korea, and Friends of the Earth International Korea. He served as the first president of the Korean Society for Ecological Economics from 2000 to 2002.
Seunghun received a B.S. in International Economics from Seoul National University in 1987, an M.S. in Environmental Studies from the University of Illinois at Springfield in 1994, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Economics from the University of Georgia in 1998. While he was in college, aside from his majors, Seunghun paid attention to a variety of issues pertaining to ecology and the environment in general. This has proven beneficial in his professional life. He has this advice for current students in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics: "It is important to work hard and achieve academic capability, however it is more important not to give up on yourself when you are not doing well in college life."In his leisure time, Seunghun enjoys listening to traditional music.
Wilbur C. Mull is a pioneer in the horticulture industry. He is corporate president and owner of Classic Groundcovers, Inc., the largest wholesale nursery in the country specializing exclusively in groundcovers, with annual gross sales of almost $4 million. The idea for the business was conceived in 1963 when Wilbur was hired for $.75 per hour by two college professors to push a wheel barrow and stick cuttings in the ground in their back yards where they were starting a nursery. In 1970, after four years of teaching and working toward a Ph.D in Marketing at UGA, Wilbur and a partner bought out the professors and expanded the original 19.6 acres of pines to an 80 acre multi-divisional operation. Wilbur's partner managed the retail and landscaping division, and Wilbur developed the groundcover business. In 1989, Wilbur became the sole owner of the entire operation. Currently, Classic Groundcovers distributes nationwide and exhibits throughout the year at approximately 20 trade shows and field days across the country and is developing an international reputation through exhibiting at several shows in Europe. The business attempts to serve a broad base of customers, including individual landscapers, medium size firms and large contractors, and retail operations. With a variable pricing structure based on the quantities needed and the philosophy that no order is too small and very rarely too large, Classic strives to satisfy each customer with quality plant material delivered with "Sudden Service." By combining an aggressive and unique marketing strategy with "Sudden Service" and a quality product, Classic Groundcovers has built a solid business during its forty-year history. The current mailing list includes 20,000 names with approximately 3,000 firms doing business with Classic each year. The company has continued to invest in land (100 acres), and expand inventory, technology, and other infrastructure. In addition, the company has cultivated a wide network of contract growers all over the U.S., Central America, Europe and Asia which supply Classic Groundcovers with backup inventory, enabling the company to maintain the promise of consistent top quality products delivered with "Sudden Service."
Wilbur is also the lead auctioneer for Classic Realty & Auction Co., Inc., which handles auctions for personal property, business, liquidation, real estate, and fund raising. Aside from this "business" venture, Wilbur uses his auctioneering skills to help a wide range of non-profit organizations raise money. Over the last twenty years, he has donated his time and talent for more than 200 auctions that have helped local and national charities raise more than $1 million.
Wilbur received an Associate Degree in Agricultural Business from Alfred State University in 1961. He received a B.S. in Agricultural Economics in 1963, an M.S. in Agricultural Economics in 1965, and from 1966 through 1970 worked on his Ph.D. in Marketing at the University of Georgia. He completed all but the dissertation for his Ph.D and was on staff at UGA while working on his degree and taught marketing. Wilbur worked his way through school and has become an undisputed success. He affirms that the most important lessons he has learned in life are patience, consistency, honesty, and ‘The Golden Rule."
Wilbur's success has been heralded in numerous landscaping and nursery publications and local newspapers. He is active in civic organizations and has received numerous recognitions and awards, including the David Laird Memorial Award as Outstanding Young Nurseryman in the Southeast in 1976, the Slater Wight Memorial Award in 1993, the most distinguished award given by the industry, presented to the person who has contributed the most to the advancement of the industry in sixteen southern states and to the Southern Nurserymen's Association. In 1999, he received the Athens Area Small Business Person of the Year Award and the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Alumni Association Award of Excellence. In January 2003, Wilbur was presented the Jake Tinga Distinguished Professional of the Year Award, an annual award given to the professional who contributed the most to the advancement of the industry in Georgia. He is past vice president of Garden Centers of American, past president of Georgia Nurserymen's Association, and he served as Congressman Doug Barnard's appointee to the White House Conference on Small Businesses. Also, he served as vice president of the Georgia Auctioneers Association and was 2nd runner up in the State Auctioneers Bid Calling Contest. In addition, Wilbur served six years in the Georgia National Guard, 178 MP Unit, in Monroe, Georgia.
Wilbur constructed and donated Mull-Barre Park in West Barre, New York. This five acre church park, dedicated to the memory of Wilbur's parents and brother, serves as a community focal point and gathering place in the area where his family lived from 1865 to 1995. Included in this $50,000 project are a picnic shelter, playground, softball field, and open park area. He is a contributor to numerous charities and worthy causes and known for his philanthropic activities.Wilbur and his wife, Susan, have a seventeen-year-old son, Casey, and a fourteen-year-old daughter, Shellie. He is a member and deacon of the First Christian Church in Athens.
Jessica Myers is currently in the M.B.A. program at the Goizueta Business School at Emory University. She received a B.S.A. in Environmental Economics and Management from the University of Georgia in 1998. While in college, she was a President's Scholar, a member of the Dean William Tate Honor Society, a member of Phi Kappa Theta, Order of Omega, the University Round Table, president of the Zodiac Society, secretary of Kappa Delta Sorority, and secretary of the Arch Society. She was selected as the Outstanding Student in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics and was a First Honor Graduate with a 4.0 GPA. Jessica was awarded the Governor's Scholarship, the Robert C. Byrd Scholarship, the Alumni Scholarship and the Hope Scholarship. She was a student worker in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics and interned with the Georgia Environmental Policy Institute.
Going to her classes and getting to know her professors and advisors was helpful to Jessica's college career. Her advice to current students in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics is "Get involved! Learn to work in and lead teams. Practice presentation/public speaking skills."Before entering the M.B.A. program at Emory, Jessica worked at Macquarium in Atlanta as a senior information architect doing business analysis and consultation for website design. She was chosen as the March 2003 employee of the month. During her summer internship, she worked for Deloitte Consulting, and her team won an award for "Thought, Leadership, and Creativity."
In her leisure time, Jessica enjoys Georgia football, running, swimming, and cooking. She considers her greatest accomplishment to be completing the Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk.
Charles Randall (Randy) Nuckolls is the managing partner of the law firm McKenna, Long, & Aldridge in Washington, D.C. Randy began his career working on Capitol Hill as a legislative counsel for Georgia Senator Herman Talmadge and subsequently spent six years as chief counsel and legislative director for Georgia Senator Sam Nunn, directing the activities of the senator's ten-person legislative staff. He has twenty-five years of experience in Washington, dealing with federal issues in public policy. Since 1986, Randy has been in private practice, counseling clients on government contracts and federal legislative and regulatory matters. His work involves assisting clients in planning legislative strategy, testimony before congressional and agency panels, interaction with congressional leaders and their staff, and organizing and administering political action committees (PACs). He counsels clients in all phases of the federal procurement process and regulatory matters before various federal agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission, the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Treasury, and Defense, and the General Services Administration. Much of Randy's work concentrates on assisting higher education institutions and organizations in pursuing their federal affairs agenda. He also has particular expertise in agriculture, environment and natural resource policy issues, and serves as general counsel or Washington counsel for a number of corporations, trade associations and non-profit organizations. In addition, he works as Washington counsel to the University of Georgia.
Randy is on the Board of Directors of the State Bar of Georgia, past chairman and on the Executive Committee of the Society of International Business Fellows, and on the board of the Georgia Agribusiness Council. Also, he participated in Leadership Georgia and received the Blue Key Young Alumni Award. His greatest accomplishments since graduation have been working as chief counsel to two United States senators, his active involvement in numerous civic and professional societies in leadership roles, and becoming the managing partner in his law firm.
Randy received a B.S.A in Agricultural Economics in 1974 and a J.D. in 1977, both from the University of Georgia. While in college, he was a member of the Student Senate, president of Collegiate 4-H, vice president of the Ag Hill Council, president of AGHON, president of Blue Key, vice president of the Student Bar Association, a member of ODK and served as an intern at the Georgia General Assembly. He received a Blue Key scholarship and various agricultural college scholarships. In 1975, he was selected as the Outstanding Senior in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and was winner of the Best Brief in the law school's Talmadge Writing Competition. Randy's active involvement in various campus organizations prepared him for his work in congress and his involvement in civic and professional organizations in his adult career. He gives this advice to current students in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics: "Sample courses in various schools and colleges. Get involved in student organizations. Study abroad to better prepare yourself for the global economy."
Leisure time is "active" time for Randy. He is engaged in numerous community and civic organizations. He is past chairman and a board member of the Georgia 4-H Foundation, past president and board member of the Georgia State Society, board member and legal counsel for Keep D.C. Beautiful, past president of the University of Georgia Law School Council, on the Advisory Board of the University of Georgia Honors Program, on the Alumni Advisory Board of the Dean Rusk Center for International, Comparative and Graduate Legal Studies, on the President's Advisory Council for the Wesley Theological Seminary, on the Business Advisory Council for Very Special Arts, president of the Society of International Business Fellows, a member of the UGA Alumni Board, and a member of the Georgia Agribusiness Council Board. In addition, he is chair of the board of the Fairlington United Methodist Church. When Randy is not busy with these "leisure-time activities," he enjoys golf and racquetball.
