Dennis Mahar, Vice President

I spent most of my youth focused on outdoor activities like hunting, fishing and hiking with family and friends. Much later in my life I decided to pursue a career in academia and obtained a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Florida.

 

After a few years teaching at a small college in Kentucky, I soon realized that academia was not for me, and joined Ford Foundation, who assigned me to the Brazilian Ministry of Planning in Rio de Janeiro. In this position I was put in charge of research on the impacts of development on the Amazon rainforest. fantastic experience that taught me a great deal about the difficult trade-offs between economic development and the environment.

 

Upon completion of my assignment in Brazil I started working for the World Bank in Washington, DC, an institution that provides funding for development projects around the world. Starting out as a loan officer, I later became manager of the Bank's Environmental Division for the Americas where I was frequently obliged to mediate between development-oriented borrowers and the environmental mandates of my employer.

 

After retiring from the World Bank, I returned to academia. In Gainesville I taught courses in international development, endeavoring to pass on to students some of the many lessons learned in my professional life. I recently moved to Inglis and now live happily on the banks of the Withlacoochee.