It is Qué Pasa's pleasure to acknowledge in this issue a respected member of OSU's Latino community, an outstanding professor, the Director of the Rural Finance Program here at OSU, a man who has traveled to sixty countries in his lifetime, and one of only sixty honorees recently recognized by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) for their outstanding contributions to agriculture. Surprisingly, this is not a profile about five people, but of one amazing man, Professor Claudio Gonzalez, Ph.D.

Originally from Costa Rica, Dr. Gonzalez received his undergraduate degrees in Law and Economics at the University of Costa Rica, his Master's from the London School of Economics, and his Ph.D. from Stanford University. When he arrived at OSU in 1982 with the intention of staying for one year as a Visiting Professor, he was offered a joint appointment as a Full Professor in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics as well as in the Department of Economics. Fortunately for Ohio State, he has been here ever since. Dr. Gonzalez was drawn to Columbus simply because "OSU was the natural place to come." His son and daughter both have affiliations in Columbus and Dr. Gonzalez found a home in Ohio State. "Most of all, I enjoyed the opportunity to work with my colleagues at the Rural Finance Program and the dozens of foreign students who came to OSU attracted by the strong international reputation of the program. By this time, I have graduated at least thirty Ph.D. students," he comments.

Dr. Gonzalez is the Director of the Rural Finance Program here at OSU, a program which is best described in his own words. "The Program is world renowned as a center of excellence in the study of financial markets in developing countries and in economies in transition from central planning, with particular emphasis on the supply of financial services to marginal and disadvantaged segments of the population: women, the poor, small farmers, indigenous peoples." It is for his active participation in the growth of this program that, this spring, the IICA honored Dr. Gonzalez along with sixty other individuals for their contributions toward agricultural and overall life improvement in rural areas of the Americas. This globally recognized program attracts graduate students from all over the Americas who, when they complete their studies, often return to their home countries, in some cases with the nickname "the Ohio boys," and establish major policy reforms agriculturally.

In addition to this great honor from the IICA, Dr. Gonzalez has received several awards at OSU for his teaching and international activities. In 1989, greatly due to Dr. Gonzalez's work, the Rural Finance Program itself was given the Outstanding Policy Contribution from the American Association of Agricultural Economists, for its ability "to transform robust research results into practical policies."

Throughout all of his achievements, Dr. Gonzalez continues to take pride in his Latino heritage. "I am very proud of my Latino background and highlight this everywhere I go," he says, "The fact that some of the most successful achievements in our efforts to change policies and create programs have occurred in Latin America makes me very happy." He also would like to emphasize the importance Latino students hold on the OSU community. "They should value and be proud of these contributions and should remember that every time that one of us shows excellence in our own fields of activity, the rest of the world will learn to better appreciate our contributions. This will open additional doors to other Latinos. I believe the Latino influence will continue to rapidly expand, and we should be prepared to offer our best harvest to the rest of the country and the world." Dr. Gonzalez truly has opened more than one door for the Latino community to the rest of the world. We are proud to have his presence at Ohio State.