Leonardo Lombardini

Dr. Lombardini received his Laurea degree (equivalent to B.S. + M.S.) in Forestry from the Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy, in 1993 and his Ph.D. in Horticulture from Michigan State University in 1999. He then held a postdoctoral position at Washington State University’s Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center in Wenatchee, WA, where he investigated the effects of different cultural practices on fruit quality in apple and pear trees. In June 2002, he started his appointment as Assistant Professor in the Department of Horticultural Sciences at Texas A&M University as tree physiologist where he focused on pecan cultivation. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2008 and to Professor in 2015. In January 2014 he became affiliated with the Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture as Deputy Director of World Coffee Research. In September 2016 he became the founding Director of the Center for Coffee Research and Education at Texas A&M University, which focused on improving the quality and supply of coffee globally through research and capacity building. He started his position as Head of the Horticulture Department at the University of Georgia on September 1, 2019.
In 2012 he was the recipient of the J. Creighton Miller, Jr. Distinguished Educator Award from the Southern Region American Society for Horticultural Science (SR-ASHS). In 2025, he received the Paul Smeal Leadership and Administration Award from SR-ASHS and the Outstanding Leadership and Administration Award from the American Society for Horticultural Science.