Fall 2001
 

November 28, 2001 J.W. Fanning Lecture

You are invited to attend the 2001 J. W. Fanning Lecture on Wednesday, November 28, 2001 at 11:00 a.m. at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education, Athens, Georgia. This year's Lecture is entitled "Emerging Agricultural Trade Issues: Challenges for European Union and United States Policy." The Lecture will focus on EU and US policy in 2002 and beyond.

The speaker, Dr. Tassos Haniotis, is a member of the Cabinet of Dr. Franz Fischler, EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries with  responsibility for the Common Agricultural Policy and the agricultural budget.  He holds M.S. (1984) and Ph.D. (1987) degrees in Agricultural Economics from the University of Georgia, USA, and a B.A. (1980) in Economics from the Athens School of Economics and Business Science in his native Greece.

Preceding the Lecture, refreshments will be available on the second floor concourse.  The Lecture will be in rooms E/F. Immediately following the lecture, you are invited to attend a luncheon  in the Georgia Center. While the Lecture is free, there is a $20 charge for the luncheon. Please make reservations for the luncheon, complete the enclosed reservation form or call 706-542-2481.

We are interested in developing a national database of alumni and other agricultural and applied economists who are willing to share information on their careers with students and alumni of the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Georgia.  Check out the new alumni directory for the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.  If your name is not listed in the directory, please let us have your  name, address, county, job title & duties, firm, and permission to post the information on the Internet.   You can send us a note with this information or complete the survey on the Internet at the alumni website and return it to the Agricultural and Applied Economics Department, 301 Conner Hall, University of Georgia, Athens, GA  30602-7509.  We'll help get you back in touch!

A new alumni website for the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics Department is now available.  Check out career opportunities on the web.  The alumni site highlights current information on employment trends and provides links to numerous job search engines related to agricultural and applied economics.

New scholarships are being proposed to honor two outstanding teachers - Tom Frazier and Wen Williams.  These men influenced the lives of hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students during their careers as students in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Georgia.  We would like to hear from their former students on the influence of these two great teachers.  Please write to us at the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, 301 Conner Hall, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-7509 or aaecon@uga.edu soon.

2001 Honors Convocation
John Bergstrom, Forrest Stegelin, and Michael Wetzstein were recognized for outstanding teaching at the 2001 UGA Honors Convocation. Congratulations to these faculty for their contributions to the teaching program in Agricultural and Applied Economics.

Office of International Public Service and Outreach
In September 2001, Glenn Ames was appointed Director of the Office of International Public Service and Outreach at UGA. His work will initially focus on cooperative work with Africa. Later he will develop programs for Asia and Latin America. Congratulations to Dr. Ames on this appointment.

Endowed Chair
Luanne Lohr has been named the 2001-2002 Endowed Chair in Agricultural Systems at the University of Minnesota's School of Agriculture.  Dr. Lohr will evaluate the potential for a regional organic food system.

Sloan Fellow
Tim Park has been selected for a Sloan Industry Center Fellowship, University of Minnesota  for FY 2001.  Dr. Park will analyze key business and productivity trends in food retailing.

Visiting Scholar in Taiwan
Charlie Huang has been invited to teach graduate courses at the Institute of Applied Economics, National Taiwan Ocean University for the period  of September 2001 to January 2002.

Advisor for Trade in Fruits and Vegetables
Luanne Lohr was named to a two-year term with the Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for Trade in Fruits and Vegetables.  This group provides advice to the Sec. of Agriculture and the U.S. Trade Representative on matters related to trade in agricultural commodities.

Advisor to US President Back in Classroom
Andrew Keeler, an Associate Professor in the Department, has completed a 12-month appointment as the Senior Staff Economist for the Environment at the President's Council of Economic Advisors.  He was a member of the US negotiating team for climate change at the COP-6 meetings in the Hague, was a member of the White House climate policy development group under two administrations, and provided environmental policy advice to the Clinton and Bush administrations on major rule makings in air pollution control and energy efficiency standards.  His experiences on the Council will greatly enrich his teachings in environmental economics.

New Faculty Member
Dmitry V. Vedenov has been hired as an assistant professor of agricultural finance.  Dr. Vedenov received his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University.

Retirement/Active Duty
Bill Thomas retired as Professor in Agricultural and Applied Economics on September 30, 2001. He was immediately called to active duty in the National Guard to help oversee the protection of airline passengers. We appreciate his service in such a critical area.

2001 Graduate Student Awards Reception
The Graduate Student Awards Reception was held on May 1, 2001. Bruno Lanfranco and Ecio Costa received the Outstanding Ph.D. Student Award. Vahe Heboyen received the Outstanding M.S. Student Award. The Outstanding Student Paper Competition winners were: Bruno Lanfranco (Ph.D. competition) for the paper entitled "Hispanic Households' Demand for Meats Using an Incomplete System of Censored Equations" and Vahe Heboyen (M.S. competition) for "US-EU Banana War: Implications of Retaliatory Tariffs on Pecorino Cheese." Jack Houston received the award for the outstanding graduate teacher for 2000-2001.

Graduate Student Award
Adelin Semali received the Food Distribution Research Society's 2001 William Applebaum Memorial Scholarship Award for Outstanding M.S. Thesis, under the research direction of Luanne Lohr.  This is the second year in a row that one of our students has won the award.

2001 Undergraduate Awards Banquet
The Undergraduate Awards Banquet was held on April 19, 2001 at Jennings Mill Country Club.  Michelle Allen and Stephanie Mueller received the Outstanding Senior Award. Jeff Dorfman received the Outstanding Faculty Award, and Jo Anne Norris received the Outstanding Service Award.

International Business Internship
Brussels, Belgium was the site of Leigh Heusner's internship for Summer 2001. Ms. Heusner, an Agricultural Economics major, served as an intern with the Georgia Department of Agriculture's International Trade Office.

US Congressional Internship
John Paul Martin, an Agribusiness major, served as an intern with Congressman Sanford Bishop in Washington, DC during Summer 2001.  John Paul is an active member of the Arch Society, Block and Bridle, Phi Gamma Delta, and the Ag Econ Club at UGA.  Martin says "I experienced and learned more about agriculture during the three months I was in DC than I will ever experience in college."

AGHON Inductees
The AGHON Spring 2001 Initiation and Awards Ceremony was held at Flinchum's Phoenix. Students inducted into the society included Carol Spruill, Agricultural Economics, and Chris Groskreutz, Agribusiness. AGHON is the highest honor that a student in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences may attain while at the University of Georgia.

CAES Ambassadors Selected
New Student Ambassadors in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences include Carol Spruill, an Agricultural Economics major and Jake Jones, an Agricultural Economics major. Emily Howard, an Agribusiness major, will be a returning Ambassador. Congratulations to these students for being selected to serve as Ambassadors for the College.

UGA Homecoming Representative
Carol Spruill, a n Agricultural Economics major, was chosen as one of the five finalists on the UGA Homecoming Court.  Spruill, nominated by Sigma Alpha Sorority, is President of the Agricultural Economics Club, a member of AGHON, a CAES Ambassador, and a past National FFA Vice President.

The University of Georgia's student National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) Chapter completed a successful year of accreditation. The goal of NAMA is to build awareness of agri-marketing's career opportunities and to find ways to help universities and students meet career challenges. Steve Turner, Associate Professor of Agricultural and Applied Economics, serves as advisor to the Georgia Chapter.

The Department offers great opportunities for advanced degrees. At the masters degree level, we offer three degree options: M.S. in Agricultural Economics, M.S. in Environmental Economics, and Master of Agricultural Economics (professional, non-thesis option). The department also offers a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics. At the Ph.D. and Masters levels, students can concentrate their studies in a broad range of specialties including marketing, production, consumer demand, international trade, natural resource management, environmental policy, and rural development.  For qualified students, the department offers financial assistance through graduate research assistantships.

For more information on our graduate program, see the departmental web page at www.agecon.uga.edu or contact our Graduate Coordinator, Dr. James Epperson at 706-542-0766 or jepperson@agecon.uga.edu.

The Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics is interested in hearing from our alumni. Please inform us of your current job position or other significant accomplishments. This information can be sent by e-mail to the following address: aaecon@agecon.uga.edu or mailed to the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Rm. 301 Conner Hall, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-7509.