Jim Griffin. Photo by John Wozniak (Click on image to go to downloadable version.)

News Release Distributed 10/18/13

BATON ROUGE, La. – James L. Griffin, the Lee F. Mason LSU Alumni Association Professor in the School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences, has been named graduate student recruiter in the LSU College of Agriculture.

One of the initiatives for the college will be to increase the number of graduate students, said Bill Richardson, LSU vice president for agriculture, who also became dean of the college on Oct. 9.

In his position, Griffin will provide oversight and direction for graduate student recruitment and will serve as the primary point of contact for potential graduate students, Richardson said.

“We intend to put forth the resources needed to enhance our existing process, including assigning a faculty member the responsibility to support our departments and schools,” Richardson said.

Griffin has served as chair or co-chair for 45 graduate student committees and on committees for 45 other graduate students over the past 30 years.

“His experience as a teacher and mentor at LSU will aid in coordinating these efforts across all of the college’s academic units,” Richardson said.

Across the country, undergraduate enrollment in agriculture has decreased and affected the ability to recruit the next generation of scientists, Griffin said. “Graduate students are the lifeblood of agriculture research.”

“We can identify top-notch students studying biology and related courses in other Louisiana schools and offer them the opportunity to continue their educations,” he said.

In addition to graduate and undergraduate teaching, Griffin has maintained an extensive research and extension program in the LSU AgCenter in weed science for sugarcane, corn and soybeans.

He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Mississippi State University and a doctorate from Pennsylvania State University, all in agronomy.

Rick Bogren