Dr. L. George Wilson, professor of horticulture at North Carolina State University, was named coordinator of International Programs for the university's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. This new appointment, effective Oct. 1, augments his present position as professor of horticultural science, and postharvest specialist in the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, roles he has held for nearly 23 years.
As coordinator of International Programs, Wilson will play a key role in strengthening the international dimensions of research, teaching and extension to benefit all 22 departments in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Wilson will concentrate on developing partnerships between research and extension efforts at N.C. State and those at universities and agencies across the state and throughout the world.
Wilson has twice represented N.C. State in providing technological support in projects in Peru. In 1991, he was named as Chief of Party of N.C. State's 25-million-dollar U.S. Agency for International Development, Agricultural Technology Transformation Project. In 1993, Wilson served on the six-member Bulgarian-American Extension Project, a USDA-sponsored effort that helped the former eastern bloc nation make the transition from communism to free marketeconomy. As a Congressional Science Fellow, he was the staffer who organized and hosted Senator Terry Sanford's week-long Central American Trade Mission. Wilson also represented the senator in several international conferences and trade missions on Capitol Hill.
For the past four years, Wilson has provided leadership for the Center for Environmental Farming Systems, a collaborative effort between N.C. State, North Carolina A&T State University and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture. He has chaired the Organic Unit Advisory Committee, a diverse group dedicated to assuring the generation of research-based knowledge for organic crop production and marketing.
As a Fellow of the American Society for Horticultural Science, Wilson has twice served as vice president of this international society, first for the Extension Division and then for the International Affairs Division. He is also a member of numerous honor societies and agribusiness collaborative efforts.
Wilson earned his bachelor of science degree in pomology at Cornell University in 1961, his master of science degree in horticulture at Washington State University in 1964, and his doctorate in postharvest horticulture at Michigan State University in 1969.
Wilson is a native of Appleton, NY and grew up on a farm in Niagara County, NY. He lives in Raleigh with his wife Claudia. The Wilsons have one daughter and two sons; Michelle, Kerrick and Andrew, all grown.