Endowments
Giving Back to NRLI
The Bruce Delaney Scholarship Fund
The NRLI Project Team would like to extend a heartfelt congratulations to Bruce Delaney on his retirement, June 30, 2016. Bruce is an alumnus of NRLI Class II, the former Executive Director of NRLI, and has been a Project Team member for more than 11 years. Bruce is a Veteran of the U.S. Air Force, and in his earlier career, he taught high school history, worked on the oil fields in Alaska, owned a fish camp in Cross Creek, Florida, and served terms as Mayor and Commissioner for the City of Gainesville. Bruce has also served on numerous community advisory committees, received community service awards, and chaired over 100 public meetings. A certified mediator, Bruce has mediated over 200 cases and is also the former Director of the USDA Florida Agricultural Mediation Program. He has been a mentor to all of us on the Project Team and we are incredibly thankful to have had him as a colleague and to call him a friend. We cannot express in words our immense gratitude to Bruce for all that he has done to support and nourish NRLI. He has played a central role in bringing the Institute to where it is today—an institute that has trained 297 individuals from 110 organizations and across the state of Florida.
In honor of Bruce’s many contributions to NRLI, we are extremely pleased to announce the establishment of the Bruce Delaney Scholarship Fund. Once the fund reaches endowment status, it will be used to provide scholarship funds to individuals from disadvantaged communities or organizations that would not otherwise be able to financially support their participation in NRLI. If you would like to contribute to the Bruce Delaney Scholarship Fund, please go to www.uff.ufl.edu/appeals/delaney.
The General Joe Joyce Family Endowment for Natural Resources Leadership
Dr. Joseph C. Joyce was born in Jacksonville, Florida. He obtained his B.S. and M.S. at the University of Alabama, and later obtained his Ph.D from the University of Florida in Forest Resources and Conservation. His first professional experience began in 1972 with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The highlight of his career with the Corps was leading a successful effort to more effectively manage the invasive water hyacinth in waters of the State of Florida. Those programs are still in effect today. In 1983, Dr. Joyce joined the UF/IFAS faculty as the Director of the Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants. He has also served UF/IFAS as the Director of the Center for Natural Resources, as Interim Dean for Research and Interim Vice President of Agriculture and Natural Resources. He served as the Senior Associate Vice President for 20 plus years and also served as Director of the IFAS Center for Leadership until his retirement in 2015. Dr. Joyce also served in the Army Reserves for over 28 years and retired at the rank of Brigadier General. Dr. Joyce created an endowment to support the Florida Natural Resources Leadership institute. This endowment will provide partial scholarship support to NRLI participants as well as offer general support to the program. If you would like to contribute to the General Joe Joyce Family Endowment for Natural Resources Leadership, please go to http://tinyurl.com/JCJ-Endowment.
Farm Credit of Florida Agricultural and Natural Resources Leadership Endowment
The Farm Credit of Florida Agricultural and Natural Resources Leadership Endowment was made possible through a generous donation by Farm Credit of Florida and will be used to support scholarships for young farmers (35 years old or younger) participating in the UF/IFAS Florida Natural Resources Leadership Institute. Those working in Florida agricultural are an important constituency for the NRLI program and NRLI is proud to have a role in training future leaders of the Agricultural community. The average age for a fulltime farmer in the United States is almost 60 years old and young farmers pursuing full- and part-time farming are crucial to the future of the agricultural sector in the State of Florida. Our heartfelt thanks to Farm Credit of Florida as we look forward to a long and fruitful partnership.