Turfgrass scientist named society Fellow

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Michael Richardson, Professor of Horticulture

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The American Society of Agronomy recently announced that it has named University of Arkansas horticulture professor Michael Richardson a Fellow of the society, which is one of its highest honors.

Richardson's teaching and research programs are in turfgrass management in the horticulture department of the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture and the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.

Richardson's research focuses on the response of turfgrasses to stresses such as temperature, water, diseases and insects. As a member of the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program advisory committee, he coordinates turfgrass variety testing in Arkansas.

Richardson is considered a national and international authority on turfgrass. He is inventor or co-inventor of 15 turfgrass cultivars and his scientific publications include 70 refereed journal articles and 12 book chapters.

Early in his career, Richardson documented drought tolerance and other benefits in endophyte-infected grasses. He was instrumental in introducing improved seeded warm-season grasses to the transition-zone environment of Arkansas. He and his colleagues pioneered a digital imaging system now used around the world to measure various turfgrass performance parameters.

Richardson teaches and advises undergraduate students, mentors graduate students and coordinates an internship program for students majoring in horticulture, landscape and turf science.

A member of the Crop Science Society board of directors, Richardson has been the editor of Applied Turfgrass Science and an associate editor for Crop Science. He and colleagues conduct an annual turfgrass field day, and the Turfgrass Management Program received the Division of Agriculture's John W. White Team Award in 2006.

Richardson came to Arkansas from Rutgers University in 1998. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from Louisiana Tech University, an Master of Science degree from Louisiana State University and a doctorate in agronomy from the University of Georgia.