Andrew Muhammad Leads Regional Agricultural Economics Association
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Andrew Muhammad, professor and Blasingame Chair of Excellence in Agricultural Policy at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, has been elected president of the Southern Agricultural Economics Association. The newly elected president will be recognized at the Association’s upcoming annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, from February 3-6.
“We are excited for Dr. Muhammad in this important leadership role,” says Bill Johnson, interim department head for UT’s Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. “His previous experience with SAEA and his global perspective on agriculture will be a powerful combination for the Association. Our faculty gain tremendous value from participating in SAEA events, and Dr. Muhammad will bring a scholar practitioner’s mindset to his new leadership role.”
Established in 1968, the regional association is dedicated to applying economic theory and real-world data to issues surrounding the food and fiber sector of the economy including economic development throughout the region. This research is subsequently published in the Association’s Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, published by Cambridge University Press.
“The Southern Agricultural Economics Association has been important to my career,” says Muhammad. “I recall presenting at my first SAEA conference in 1997, as a first-year graduate student. SAEA continues to be an important association, supporting the agricultural and applied economics profession, regionally and nationally. I look forward to working with the board on making SAEA even more relevant in the future.”
Muhammad joined the UT Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics in 2018, where his program addresses the global needs of the agricultural sector at the national and state level and attracts resources to improve the competitive position of the state and region in global markets. His program also informs decision making by farmers, agribusinesses and policy makers on international trade and related policy issues.
His research focuses on agricultural trade and policy, global competitiveness of U.S. agriculture, effects of trade on developing countries, and global food demand. His research on global food demand has been widely cited and used in economic and global models. Prior to joining the UT Institute of Agriculture, he served as associate director of the Market and Trade Economics Division and chief of the International Demand and Trade Branch at USDA’s Economic Research Service.
He currently serves on several advisory boards including the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee for Trade, which provides trade policy counsel to the Secretary of Agriculture and the U.S. Trade Representative. He also serves on USAID’s Board for International Food and Agricultural Development Subcommittee on Systemic Solutions for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in Agricultural, Nutrition, and Food Systems. Muhammad is an advisor with the Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Policy Research Center and serves on the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association board of directors. He has garnered more than $6.2 million in funding for teaching and research and has written more than 70 refereed journal articles and 60 reports on agricultural trade and policy issues.
Muhammad earned his doctorate in food and resource economics from the University of Florida, a master’s in agricultural economics from the University of Missouri and a bachelor’s in agribusiness from Southern University.
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