The Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) Recognizes MSU AFRE’s Excellence
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EmailThe Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) is the world's leading professional association for this field of study. This year has been particularly outstanding for AFRE with several AAEA recognitions of our faculty achievements.
The Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) is the world’s leading professional association for this field of study, and MSU Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics Department (AFRE) faculty and students are major contributors to the Association. This year has been particularly outstanding for AFRE with several AAEA recognitions of our faculty achievements.
In addition to AFRE’s high global ranking as a leading agricultural and applied economics department, many of the faculty also play prominent roles by serving in leadership positions in their professional associations and help shape economic policy on the national and international arena. AFRE faculty have received numerous awards for excellence in scholarship and service to the profession.
AAEA president elect is Scott Swinton, the first MSU professor to lead the Association since Lester Manderscheid in 1988. The AAEA annual meeting in Chicago, July 30-August 1, will celebrate the beginning of his term as President. “I’m honored to lead our Association over the coming year. The world’s managers and policy makers have important decisions to make, and our members offer economic insights to inform those decisions. As an MSU faculty member, I’m particularly proud of the contributions that our department has been making and the fact that important ones are being recognized at the Chicago meetings.”
AAEA recognizes a small group of professionals for their lifetime achievements for research and teaching. This year, Robert Myers, University Distinguished Professor, is named an AAEA Fellow. David Hennessy received this honor in 2010, as did Thomas Reardon in 2014.
The Bruce Gardner Memorial Prize for Applied Policy Analysis Award recognizes outstanding impact on agricultural and related policy, based on solid foundations in economic theory. This year, the prestigious Prize goes to a team lead by Thomas Jayne, University Foundation Professor, and including William J. Burke, Eric Crawford, Saweda Liverpool-Tasie, Nicole Mason and David Mather, AFRE; Joshua Ariga, International Fertilizer Development Centre; Jacob Ricker-Gilbert, Purdue University; Shahid Rashid, International Food Policy Research Institute; and Charles Jumbe, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Jayne explains the motivation that he shares with his team members: "Most of us were drawn to the agricultural economics profession in the first place to be of some value to policy makers and rural people in developing areas. That is why receiving the Bruce Gardner Memorial Award is such an honor to us."
Several AFRE faculty are Chair of AAEA Sections. These are formed by members with common interests or focuses. Thomas Jayne was elected Chair of the Africa Section, succeeding to Saweda Liverpool-Tasie, and Nicole Mason is the Secretary/Treasury of this section; Trey Malone is Chair of the Brewing and Enology Economic Research (BEER) section; and Robert Shupp, Chair of the Experimental Economics Section. Melinda Smale is Chair of the International Section, and Titus Awokuse, who is also AFRE’s Department Chair, is Chair of the National Association of Agricultural Economics Administrators (NAAEA) Section.
At the upcoming annual meeting, at least 18 AFRE faculty and over 20 graduate students will present and participate. AFRE department and Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy (FSP), a project funded through USAID and led by AFRE’s Food Security Group, will be at booth #3.
