Rossi to receive GCSAA’s 2018 President’s Award for Environmental Stewardship

Frank Rossi, Ph.D. Image courtesy GCSAA.

The board of directors of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) recently named Frank Rossi, Ph.D., associate professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., the winner of its 2018 President’s Award for Environmental Stewardship.

Rossi, 55, will officially receive the award Tuesday, Feb. 6, during the Opening Session of the 2018 Golf Industry Show in San Antonio (Feb. 3-8).

The GCSAA President’s Award for Environmental Stewardship was established in 1991 to recognize “an exceptional environmental contribution to the game of golf; a contribution that further exemplifies the golf course superintendent’s image as a steward of the land,” according to the GCSAA.

“Dr. Rossi’s passion and hard work have helped drive the golf industry to a more environmentally focused future,” says GCSAA President Bill H. Maynard, CGCS. “He has not only been at the forefront of sustainability in the golf industry, but as a former superintendent himself, he has been a great source of information and support for superintendents around the world. We are pleased to honor him for his accomplishments.”

Rossi says, “Of course I am filled with gratitude to the GCSAA and all my colleagues and students over the years. I am quite humbled receiving this award. While I’ve spent my career working in the environmental area, I never thought or imagined it would ever be recognized.”

Rossi received a B.S. and master’s from the University of Rhode Island and his Ph.D. from Cornell University. He served as a consultant for the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Opens at Bethpage Black and developed sand and grass specifications for the 2016 Olympic Golf Course in Rio de Janeiro, according to a press release. He has also done consulting work for Central Park, the New York Yankees and the Green Bay Packers.

In 2014, Rossi was instrumental in the development of Best Management Practices (BMPs) for New York State Golf Courses. The project was initiated in 2012 by the Metropolitan Golf Course Superintendents Association, and Rossi served as the lead author of the guidelines. Also, while working as a turfgrass environmental specialist at Michigan State University, he was key to the creation of the Michigan Turfgrass Environmental Stewardship Program, which was officially launched in 1998, according to the GCSAA

As a researcher, lecturer and former superintendent, Rossi has already been recognized during his career with the Metropolitan GCSA Lifetime Achievement Award, the New York State Turfgrass Association’s Friend of the Green Industry, and the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association’s Environmental Communicator of the Year.

Rossi has been a professor at Cornell since 1996, and served as a visiting professor at the Swedish Agricultural University in Alnarp, Sweden, and taught courses in Denmark, Norway, England, Slovenia and Italy.

“I am very fortunate to work in a field where every day there is a new challenge,” Rossi says. “Of course these high-profile venues and events leave little margin for error, but when you work closely with professional golf and sports turf managers, you know you have expert problem solvers, can-do individuals, who when they commit to something, they will make it happen.”