Richard Sexton Recipient of 2019 CAES Award of Distinction

Sept. 26, 2019

ARE Distinguished Professor Richard J. Sexton received the 2019 College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Award of Distinction at the 31^st annual College Celebration on October 4, 2019.

The Award of Distinction is the highest recognition presented by the college to individuals whose contributions and achievements enrich the image and reputation of the college and enhance its ability to provide public service.

Sexton joined ARE in 1984 after completing his doctorate at the University of Minnesota. His research focused initially on the economics of agricultural cooperatives, but he quickly broadened his area of expertise to the industrial organization of agricultural markets. Today, he is regarded as the world’s leading scholar on the structure of agricultural markets, product differentiation, competition, and coordination within the supply chain.

Reflecting on Sexton’s accomplishments, GianCarlo Moschini, Professor and Pioneer Endowed Chair in Science and Technology Policy at Iowa State University, expressed that:

First and most important, Sexton is a scholar, an excellent agricultural economist with an enviable research record. Sexton has established himself as an authority in the area of agricultural marketing, with an emphasis on industrial organization issues and a long-standing interest in the economics of cooperatives. … Sexton, in my view, is the most successful agricultural economist in this area.

Previous teaching accomplishments garnered Sexton a Citation for Distinguished Graduate/Professional Teaching from UC Davis in 2012. Additionally, Sexton chaired the ARE department twice: from 1994 to 1998 and from 2011 to 2016. Additionally, he was an Agricultural and Applied Economics Association Fellow in 2004 and later served as the President of the Association from 2011-2014.

Tina Saitone, one of Sexton’s former graduate students and currently an associate Cooperative Extension Specialist in the ARE Department, attests that:

Overall, Professor Sexton’s teaching is unmatched by any other instructor that I have had in the entirety of my academic career and his dedication to extraordinary teaching, conscientious advising, and unparalleled professional scholarship make him a model to which all his students aspire.