Dr. Manuel Pina Jr., with the Texas A&M University department of agricultural leadership, education and communication, received a 2009 Vice Chancellor’s Award of Excellence in the area of system academic partnership

Dr. Manuel Pina Jr., with the Texas A&M University department of agricultural leadership, education and communication, received a 2009 Vice Chancellor’s Award of Excellence in the area of system academic partnership.
Pina was recognized for his leadership in the formation of the Hispanic Leadership in Agriculture and Environment Fellows program which involves both the Texas A&M System and the University of Texas System.

He received his award at the 2010 AgriLife Conference held recently at Texas A&M University.

The program was initiated in 1998 by Pina with funding from the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture in partnership with the University of Texas at San Antonio. In 2006, Pina led the expansion of the partnership to include the other universities and Texas AgriLife Research.

The award nomination states: His concept was to build research bridges among the five universities and AgriLife Research to engage students from a wide diversity of backgrounds in graduate studies and related research.

The partnership’s focus has been on the recruitment and development of graduate students with a strong appreciation for diversity. These students will be the future faculty and government leaders and set examples for the next generation, said Dr. Jack Elliott, professor and head of the department of agricultural leadership, education and communication.

To date, 97 students have been enrolled in the program, which is attributable to Pina’s success in leveraging funds available by asking for matching funds within the departments, Elliott said.

“Dr. Pina is amazing in his ability to bring folks with different perspectives together on goals they have in common,” Elliott said. “He has been persistent and effective in promoting this successful collaboration.”

Pina is an associate professor with Texas AgriLife Extension Service and AgriLife Research appointments. He is a 1985 graduate of Harvard University’s Graduate School of Business Administration; with a doctorate, master’s and two bachelor’s degrees from Texas A&M University in 1978, 1974 and 1968, respectively.

Pina teaches graduate-level courses in program development and evaluation, and develops opportunities for master’s and doctoral research in all departments of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Prior to that position, he served as the head of training and communication for the International Potato Center in Lima, Peru; has been program director of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation; served as assistant vice chancellor for special programs with the Texas A&M System Agriculture Program; and was the associate director for the Mexican American and U.S. Latino Research Center.”

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