Michigan State University professor Scott Swinton has been named president elect of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, or AAEA. Swinton, a professor in the department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Economics, or AFRE, is the first MSU professor to lead the association since 1988.
“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,” Swinton said.
AFRE faculty also received numerous awards for excellence in scholarship and service to the profession.
This year, MSU professor Robert Myers was named an AAEA Fellow for his lifetime achievements in research and teaching. An MSU research team led by AFRE professor Thomas Jayne will also be recognized by the AAEA, receiving The Bruce Gardner Memorial Prize for Applied Policy Analysis Award. The award recognizes outstanding impact on agricultural and related policy, based on solid foundations in economic theory. The AFRE-led team also includes professor Eric Crawford, and assistant professors William Burke, Saweda Liverpool-Tasie, Nicole Mason and David Mather.
"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,” Jayne said.