A longtime champion and tireless supporter of Florida agriculture, Dr. John T. Woeste is a retired dean and professor emeritus of the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS). Dr. Woeste was appointed in 1976 as the dean and director of the Extension Service at UF/IFAS, a role he held until he retired 19 years later. With visionary leadership and an innovative approach, Dr. Woeste championed the selection, professional growth and development of 400 Extension Service faculty, specialists, agents and staff who served the entire state of Florida.
Dr. Woeste is a former captain in the U.S. Air Force, and examples of his leadership are numerous. During his tenure at UF, he revived the agricultural law program, adding funding and organizational guidance. That work earned him the U.S. Department of Agriculture Unit Award for Distinguished Service in 1987, and courses in agricultural law are now taught in the UF Levin College of Law. He encouraged the development of a national agricultural weather working group, which he chaired, and the Florida Automated Weather Network (FAWN), a program still used extensively by the industry during the winter months to this day. He also encouraged and supported focused programs by multi-county agent teams, several of which received national recognition for extension program effectiveness.
Throughout his career and even after his retirement, his commitment to the development of future leaders in the agricultural industry carried through. During his time as dean, he was greatly involved in developing the Florida Agriculture in the Classroom program. Since his retirement, Dr. Woeste has served as a member of the board of the Florida Rural Rehabilitation Corporation (FRRC) and has been president since 2001. Citing a need to support students from rural areas and farms who wanted a college education in agriculture, the FRRC established its first scholarship with the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences in 1985. These scholarship funds have supported hundreds of students over the years.