DALLAS – Dr. Michael Gould has been named director of strategic initiatives for Texas AgriLife Research, according to Dr. Craig Nessler of College Station, director of AgriLife Research.

Gould will serve in the new position jointly with his current position as director for the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Dallas, Nessler said.

“Dr. Gould will work closely with my office to identify and develop opportunities for AgriLife Research in the creation of new science and technologies for Texas, the nation and the world,” Nessler said. “He also will seek non-traditional funding sources to support AgriLife Research programs.”

Gould also will  “focus on a broad scope of science programs involving a wide variety of partners to address critical issues such as the sustainable production and use of food, energy and water for the 21st century,” Nessler said.

Gould’s previous directorship for the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Weslaco has been filled by Dr. Juan Landivar, Nessler noted. Landivar will lead in Weslaco along with his current role as resident director of the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Corpus Christi.

Gould joined AgriLife Research in Weslaco in 2006 and is credited with developing research programs that more than doubled the center’s annual research funding and increased the center’s production of patents and peer-reviewed publications, Nessler said.

While Gould was director at Weslaco, approximately 30 new jobs were created despite a 20 percent reduction in state funding, and the center was renovated and upgraded to include new state-of-the-art laboratory facilities for molecular biology, biotechnology, plant breeding, chemical analysis and other sciences. The world’s largest photoperiod and crossing facility dedicated to high-biomass crops such as sugarcane and bioenergy crops was also constructed during his tenure.

At Dallas, Gould has oversight of research and educational programs related to sustainable development and use of resources in urban environments. The center will be the site of the $175 million Urban Living Laboratory, expected to be the world’s largest Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified research, demonstration and teaching community.

Gould began his career as a biochemistry and biophysics professor at the University of Notre Dame. He also served 10 years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture prior to becoming director of research for the Biotechnology Research and Development Corporation in Illinois.

Gould was vice president of research for the U.S. Sugar Corp. in Florida and vice president of NuTech Solutions Inc.

He earned a bachelor’s in 1971 and a master’s in 1972, both in cell biology from the University of Cincinnati, and a doctorate in plant biochemistry in 1974 from Michigan State University.

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