Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A former head of Mississippi's marine resources department now is co-director of the recently created Northern Gulf Institute.
Glade Woods' appointment to the Stennis Space Center-based institute recently was approved by the Board of Trustees, State Institutions of Higher Learning. He led the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources 1994-2000.
The NGI is sponsored by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and led by Mississippi State University. In addition to MSU, the cooperative program includes Florida State and Louisiana State universities, University of Southern Mississippi, and the Mobile County, Ala.-based Dauphin Island Sea Laboratory.
NGI director David R. Shaw said, "We are delighted to have someone of Glade's stature to manage the institute. He has been especially dedicated to research that has aided in the region's improved and enhanced academic, engineering and technical developments.
"His lifelong commitment to the gulf region also is evident through his many volunteer contributions to the community," added the veteran Mississippi State professor who also heads the university's GeoResources Institute.
As NGI co-director, Woods will be the principal advocate to federal and state agencies at the space research facility, and throughout the Northern Gulf Coast region. He also will supervise MSU faculty and staff working at the Hancock County complex.
Woods holds an electrical engineering degree from MSU and a master's in engineering administration from the University of Utah.
He serves as board president of the Partners for Stennis, an organization dedicated to promoting the growth and stability of the space center, and Partners for Pearl River County, an economic development group for the surrounding area. He also is a board member of numerous business, community development and financial institutions.
NEW EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For additional information, contact Dr. Shaw at 662-325-9575 or dshaw@gri.msstate.edu.
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The NGI Web site is www.ngi.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.