The American Agricultural Economics Association selects the most outstanding dissertations submitted from all universities each year for a special award. Since UC Davis began offering graduate degrees, UC Davis students have won more of these awards than any other university. In addition, current UC Davis faculty members are among the top mentors, as indicated by supervision of award winning dissertations. The tables below compare various universities.
AAEA Outstanding Dissertation Awards for calendar years 1967-2015| University | Total Awards* |
|---|
| UC Davis | 21 |
| Wisconsin | 13 |
| Cornell | 12 |
| Purdue | 11 |
| Iowa State | 10 |
| Michigan State | 10 |
| Minnesota | 9 |
| N. Carolina State | 8 |
| Stanford | 8 |
| UC Berkeley | 8 |
| Illinois | 6 |
| Oklahoma State | 6 |
Award Winning Dissertation Supervisors by Current Department 1967-2015| Supervisor | University | Outstanding Theses | Honorable Mentions | Total Awards |
|---|
| Williams, Jeffrey | UC Davis | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Wilen, James E. | UC Davis | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Howitt, Richard | UC Davis | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Bishop, Richard | Wisconsin | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Chalfant, James | UC Davis | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Johnson, Stanley | Iowa State | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Roe, Terry | Minnesota | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Sexton, Richard | UC Davis | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Randall, Alan | Ohio State | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Buse, Ruebin (ret) | Wisconsin | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Barrett, Christopher | Cornell | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Perloff, Jeff | UC Berkeley | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Borenstein, Severin | UC Berkeley | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Goodhue, Rachael | UC Davis | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Moschini, GianCarlo | Iowa State | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Lybbert, Travis | UC Davis | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Carter, Michael | UC Davis | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Smith, V. Kerry | N. Carolina State | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Jensen, Helen H. | Iowa State | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Beghin, Jon C. | Iowa State | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Swinton, Scott M. | Michigan State | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Auffhammer, Maximillan | UC Berkeley | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Horan, Richard | Michigan State | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Brozovic, Nicholas | Illinois | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Huffman, Wallace | Iowa State | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Goodwin, Barry | N. Carolina State | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Kanbur, Ravi | Cornell | 0 | 1 | 1 |
