The University of Florida is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its Gainesville campus since September 1906.
Polk County is located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. The county population was 725,046, as of the 2020 census. Its county seat is Bartow, and its largest city is Lakeland.
Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, which had a population of 339,247 in 2020.
Winter Garden is a city 14 miles (23 km) west of Downtown Orlando in the western part of Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its population was 46,051 as of 2019.
Bartow is the county seat of Polk County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1851 as Fort Blount, the city was renamed in honor of Francis S. Bartow, the first brigade commander of the Confederate Army to die in combat during the American Civil War. According to the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 17,298 and an estimated population of 20,147 in 2019. It is part of the Lakeland−Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated population of 584,383 in 2009. As of 2020, the mayor of Bartow is Scott Sjoblom.
Lake Alfred is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. The population was approximately 5,015 at the 2010 Census. It is part of the Lakeland–Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH) is Florida's official state-sponsored and chartered natural-history museum. Its main facilities are located at 3215 Hull Road on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the Greater Orlando area, though in recent times the Tampa Bay area has often been described as its own region, with "Central Florida" becoming more synonymous with the Orlando area.
The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is a teaching, research and Extension scientific organization focused on agriculture and natural resources. It is a partnership of federal, state, and county governments that includes an Extension office in each of Florida's 67 counties, 12 off-campus research and education centers, five demonstration units, the University of Florida College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, three 4-H camps, portions of the UF College of Veterinary Medicine, the Florida Sea Grant program, the Emerging Pathogens Institute, the UF Water Institute and the UF Genetics Institute.
The University of California Citrus Experiment Station is the founding unit of the University of California, Riverside campus in Riverside, California, United States. The station contributed greatly to the cultivation of the orange and the overall agriculture industry in California. Established February 14, 1907, the station celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2007.
Hardrada Harold Hume was a Canadian-born American university professor, administrator and horticulturalist. Hume was a native of Ontario, and earned bachelor's and master's degrees before embarking on a career as a research botanist, horticulturalist and professor. After working as an academic administrator, Hume later served as the interim president of the University of Florida, serving during September 1947.
Alfred Augustus McKethan was a prominent American banker, citrus grower, businessman and political appointee who was a native and resident of Florida.
The University of Florida College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS), founded in 1964, is a college of the University of Florida.
Rick Dantzler is an American lawyer, former Florida politician, and a member of the Democratic Party. From Winter Haven, Dantzler served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1982 to 1990, and in the Florida Senate from 1990 to 1998. He was Buddy MacKay's running mate in the 1998 Florida gubernatorial election; they lost to Jeb Bush and Frank Brogan. From 2014–2017, Dantzler was President Obama's appointed Florida State Executive Director of the Farm Service Agency.
Edwin L. Moore was a researcher for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). With Louis G. MacDowell and C. D. Atkins in the 1940s, he helped develop a new process for making frozen concentrated orange juice. Moore was inducted into the Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame in 1986 for his contributions to the Citrus Industry and was inducted into the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame in 1983.
The economy of the state of Florida is the fourth-largest in the United States, with a $1.3 trillion gross state product (GSP) as of 2021. If Florida were a sovereign nation (2021), it would rank as the world's 16th-largest economy according to the International Monetary Fund, ahead of Indonesia and behind Mexico. In the 20th century, agriculture, tourism, industry, construction, international banking, biomedical and life sciences, healthcare research, simulation training, aerospace and defense, and commercial space travel have contributed to the state's economic development.
The history of the University of Florida is firmly tied to the history of public education in the state of Florida. The University of Florida originated as several distinct institutions that were consolidated to create a single state-supported university by the Buckman Act of 1905. The oldest of these was the East Florida Seminary, one of two seminaries of higher learning established by the Florida Legislature. The East Florida Seminary opened in Ocala 1853, becoming the first state-supported institution of higher learning in the state of Florida. As it is the oldest of the modern University of Florida's predecessor institutions, the school traces its founding date to that year. The East Florida Seminary closed its Ocala campus at the outbreak of the American Civil War and reopened in Gainesville in 1866
North Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida comprising the northernmost part of the state. Along with South Florida and Central Florida, it is one of Florida's three most common "directional" regions. It includes Jacksonville and nearby localities in Northeast Florida, an interior region known as North Central Florida, and the Florida Panhandle.
M. Joseph Ahrens is an American entrepreneur, scientist, and inventor whose work focuses on research, product development, business development, and operations in agriculture and food industries.
Robert Bruce Crawford III is an American former politician who served as Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and a legislator in the Florida State House and Senate. He graduated from Bartow High School. Crawford earned a Business and Finance degree from University of Miami. He worked as a financial planner and started a property management company with his wife, Nancy.
