Robert (Bobby) Grisso

Bobby Grisso is Professor & Extension Engineer of Biological Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech University

Biographical Information

I am a Christian and as a Christian, I believe that we humans were created by God for His Glory, and we remain here in this earth because of His goodness.

I believe that we are lost until we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord of our lives. At that point, we come under God’s grace and receive the gift of everlasting life.

I further believe that our sojourn on this earth is full of opportunities to serve and to live out our convictions and participate in the joy of belonging to God through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. Our beliefs do matter since they govern our behaviors.

“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved, For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved… for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:9, 10, 13.

I was raised in a Christian home that valued church, family and doing good in the community. I did not always enjoy the fellowship of the church but anytime the doors were opened my parents, and by default, I was there. I enjoyed several elements and gave my heart to Jesus when I was 9-10 years old. Eventhough, I was active in youth church activities, I drifted from the Lord, because of the crowd I ran with (primarily work related) and experimented with several things that put me at risk.

During my senior year of high school, one of our classmates died from injuries in a motorcycle accident. The only outwardly visible sign was a small bruise on the his neck. During that spring, one of my friends and I were out riding on my motorcycle and we only had tennis shoes, a helmet and shorts on (not much protection). We were headed to my house, when a small slick patch of asphalt on a curvy road, knocked the bike from under us and sent us rolling and sliding across the asphalt. My friend ended up on top of me; so I had several bad abrasions and cuts but we had no broken bones. The experience was quiet painful, and one of the injuries on my shoulder was heart shaped and for a long time that made an interesting scar on my shoulder.

From that experience, the Lord convicted my heart that if I stayed on the course that I was on that it would only lead to destruction and grief. I responded and recommitted my life to the Lord and started to change my associations. What a difference it made! My outlook on life had more promise and my life was filled with peace. Eventhough I had many important decisions to make concerning career and marriage, I had this peace and confidence that God was taking it all into consideration and that He was watching over me.

As I went to college, I was involved in several Christian things that strengthened my faith and I was discipled by several people that wanted to see God revealed in power in their and our lives. This set a course that founded me for following Christ in all things and being confident that He was good and only wanted the best for me.

For a long time in my Christian experience, I thought I was less than most around me. The world had an attitude that if you lived according to God Word that you were lacking in social, rational reasoning, and intellectual skills. What I found was with the Holy Spirit, I was more than that and I had God leading and directing me. He was providing a way and insights where there seem to be little encouragement to go. My grades were substandard but I had a desire to go to graduate school. One reason for this desire was that no jobs were available. But I survived and thrived in graduate school having a great experience and people to work with.

I can say that God has changed my life and that He has forgiven me for the wrongs and sins that I have done. He has given me a new future and hope to see things in a positive and fresh way. He has opened creative elements and insights that I would have been to “chicken” to attempt. He has also given a hope that others can have the potential to live their lives more fully (or wholeness) and part of my role as a Professor is to tap, develop, direct and encourage those potentials that I see in others. I am convinced that Christ makes a difference in every part of my life. He will do the same for you!