USDANEWS                                                           VOLUME 58 NO. 7 — September 1999

Editor's Roundup
USDA people in the news

Charles Laughlin was selected as the administrator of the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service. He succeeded Bob Robinson, who served in that position from January 1996 until March 1998, and then retired in January 1999 following 30 years of government service. CSREES Associate Administrator Colien Hefferan served as acting administrator in the interim.

Before joining USDA, from July 1996 until his recent selection Laughlin served as both dean and director of the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at the University of Hawaii-Manoa in Honolulu. He was director of the Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station at Colorado State University from 1992-96. From 1983-92 he served as the associate director of the Georgia Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of Georgia. He was a professor of plant pathology and head of the Department of Plant Pathology and Weed Science at Mississippi State University from 1980-83.

From 1969-80 Laughlin served in several capacities at the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University, including director of academic and student affairs, professor of nematology, and Extension nematologist. From 1975-77 he also served as a resident consultant, first in Brasilia and then in Piracicaba, Brazil, to the Brazilian Ministry of Education and Culture for the strengthening of both undergraduate and graduate programs in agriculture. From 1973-75 he helped to recruit and pre-assign Peace Corps agricultural and natural resource volunteers for the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, and Nepal.

Laughlin joined Michigan State University after developing a Cooperative Extension nematology program for the state of Florida while working as an assistant Extension nematologist at the University of Florida from 1968-69.

A native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Laughlin holds a B.S. degree in horticulture from Iowa State University, an M.S. degree in agronomy from the University of Maryland, and a Ph.D. degree in plant pathology and physiology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. 

Inside the "USDA NEWS" News and Current Information	Past Issues USDA's ...Homepage