Triumph of a Career Gone South: Trajectory and Legacy of Lynn E. Sollenberger.

Lynn E. Sollenberger is Distinguished Professor and Graduate Coordinator in the Agronomy Department at the University of Florida (UF). He was born in June 1957 in Chambersburg, south-central Pennsylvania, and grew up with his four older siblings on his father's dairy farm in Fayetteville, PA, where as a youngster he learned to love the land, the nobility of farming, and the value of hard work. He met his wife Andrea when they were both undergraduates at Messiah College in PA, and married her in 1981. They arrived in Florida in 1983 when he started his Ph.D. training at the UF Agronomy Department and never left, eventually taking the position that once belonged to G.O. Mott, whose shoes fit him snuggly today. As UF faculty, Lynn has pursued a strikingly distinguished carrer, and does it with contagious pleasure, one that has turned him into a leader, a genuine source of inspiration to his students, and a professional reference to his peers. He holds several honorary titles, including UF Distinguished Teaching Scholar. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in grassland ecology, management, and utilization. His team has acquired grant funds totaling almost $ 6 million and published more than 220 refereed journal articles. As a mentor, he has served as advisor or co-advisor to 60 graduate students and on the supervisory committees of another 80 students. His lab has hosted 60 visiting Ph.D. students, visiting scientists, and undergraduate interns. Many of his former students hold academic positions at U.S. universities, and are faculty members at universities in Brazil, China, South Korea, and Honduras or are scientists in national research organizations in several continents. He has served the Tri-Societies in a myriad of functions, including journal editorial boards, and several committees. Dr. Sollenberger is a member and chairperson of the UF Academy of Distinguished Teaching Scholars and a recipient of the UF Doctoral Mentoring Award and the UF-CALS Graduate Teacher and Adviser of the Year Award. He was twice named UF Research Foundation Professor, and he is a two-time recipient of the UF Teaching Incentive Program Award for excellence in instruction. Sollenberger is a Fellow of the UF-CALS Academy of Teaching Excellence, the American Society of Agronomy, and the Crop Science Society of America. He has been a devoted husband and father and more recenty, grandfather, and has given unselfishly of himself to family, community, church, friends, and students. He and Andrea live in Gainesville, where their four children were born. As expected from a true giant in academia, he embraces challenges and teaches through the example. Good thing he went south.