Chair of wood industry organization and economics

Chair: Chair of wood industry organization and economics

Head of Chair: Dr. Branko Glavonjić, full professor

Chair development:

The Chair of forestry and wood industry economics was included into the composition of the newly formed Wood-industrial department at the University of Belgrade in 1956. The initial composition of the Chair was the logical beginning of the development of teaching at the Wood-industrial segment due to its roots in forestry. This joint Chair included the following subjects: Political Economy, Forest Economics, Fundamentals of Law and Legislation, Organization and business practices in forestry, Timber trade, Economy of timber industry, Labor protection, Organization of production in wood processing enterprises, Bookkeeping, records and industrial statistics.
Already in the following Statute from 1960 the name of the Chair was changed to the Chair of wood industry economics, with the following subjects at the undergraduate level: Wood industry economics, Organization of production in enterprises, Enterprize design, Timber trade and Economics of enterprises. These subjects together with the subject Preparation of production (today- production management), which was introduced in the1966 curriculum are still the core of this Chair today.

Over time, the name of the Chair was slightly changed, until its name stabilized as the Chair of wood industry organization and economics. The names of the subjects remained largely unchanged to date, or their program (content) was adapted to the changes in the concept of education and the needs of the professional circles.
In order to comply with the Bologna process, the 2002 Statute introduced elective subjects to the Chair, first within the framework of undergraduate studies and later in master, specialist and doctoral studies. In the first accreditation of study programs in 2006, and then in the second one in 2008, and the third one in 2013, the Department of wood processing introduced the educational stream of management with the appropriate elective subjects whose holder became the Chair of wood industry organization and economics. These elective subjects included Business Law, Business Finance and Entrepreneurship in timber industry, and in addition to teachers from the Chair the teaching of these subjects was given to teachers from the Faculty of Organizational Sciences in Belgrade, with which the Chair has a very good cooperation. Teachers from this faculty are also engaged in specialist studies of timber and wood products trade, which are the only specialist studies at the Faculty of Forestry. This was the best way for the Chair to meet the challenges of the new era in the educational process and the needs of the professional circles in terms of introducing the multidisciplinary approach to the educational process.

Throughout the whole period of its existence and work the Chair has established intensive cooperation with industry through the work of the teachers and assistants on its improvement. At the same time, private companies are also places for the field work of students and training of the Chair staff in certain scientific disciplines.
In addition to undergraduate studies, master, specialist and doctoral studies are organized at the Chair.
In the past, the teaching at the Chair used to be carried out by prof. Dr. Dušan Oreščanin and prof. Dr. Lazar Vujičić, professors who represent the first generation of teachers that have significantly contributed to the establishment and development of the Department. At the same time, they also laid the foundation of the Chair of wood industry organization and economics. Professor Oreščanin taught the subjects of Wood industry economics and Timber trade and professor Vujičić the subject Organization of production in wood processing enterprises. They have subsequently been joined by professor Božidar Perović in the subjects Enterprises design and Preparation of production. He gave immeasurable contribution to the development of the Chair and the Department with his boundless energy and knowledge.

The second generation of teachers at the Chair are professor Ivan Aleksov and MSc Tomislav Banković. The third generation includes professor Stevan Stefanović, professor Avdo Redžić and professor Milan Nešić. The fourth generation are professor Milan Vukićević and professor Radovan Šuletić. The fifth generation of teachers and assistants are professor Branko Glavonjić and MSc Dragoljub Ivković, assistant and the sixth one assistant professor Slavica Petrović.
A significant contribution to the work of the Chair in the field of cooperation with industry was given by: consultant engineer Karlo Čerge, MSc Ratko Marković and engineers Radomir Radojević and Stevan Celner. The necessary technical support to the work of the Chair was provided by Ljiljana Jovović and Mirjana Vučković. Today, it is provided by Ljiljana Pajović and Gordana Stijepčić.

For a certain period grad eng. Miloš Vulović and grad. eng. Slaven Živković were engaged in the teaching process at the Chair. In the current period, the Chair has four teachers and one teaching associate.
From its establishment until 30th September 2016, more than 300 students graduated from the Chair of wood industry organization and economics. Four students defended their Master’s thesis, 10 students defended their specialist theses, 18 defended their Master of Science theses and 19 of them obtained a doctoral degree.