Texas A&M University

Professors’ Curriculum

Area of Economics:

Dr. Desmond Ng

Dr. Ng is an assistant professor of agribusiness and strategy management at Texas A&M University. He was formerly an assistant professor at University of Alberta (2000-2004). He has received his PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2001. His BS and MS degrees are from University of British Columbia, Vancouver and Mc Gill University, Montreal, respectively.

Dr. Ng’s teaches at both the undergraduate and graduate levels of instruction in areas of Agricultural Markets, Agribusiness Strategy and Managerial Economics. He has published largely in areas of management and agribusiness with 13 publications in such journals as Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Management Studies, Emergence, Journal of Chain and Network Science, International Food and Agribusiness Management Review and other related journals.

Dr. David Bessler

David A. Bessler has been a Professor of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University since 1982. Formerly he was Assistant Professor at Purdue University (1977- 1982). Received the PhD from the University of California at Davis in 1977. His BS and MS degrees are from the University of Arizona, awarded in 1971 and 1973, respectively.

He teaches graduate level courses in Research Methodology and Econometrics.

Dr. Bessler’s research is in the area of price discovery among markets separated by space, time, or form. He has published 90 refereed journal papers (in AJAE, Rev. Econ. and Stat., Econometric Theory, Economic Inquiry, Jo. Of Business, etc.) on this and related topics, as well as dozens of other publications in book chapters, bulletins and the popular press. His recent work focuses on the dynamics of cattle and beef prices under outbreaks of BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) and Foot and Mouth Disease in the United Kingdom and Canada (BSE only for the latter). Methods for simulating likely dynamics in the presence of these pathogens in the US cattle and beef markets based on the Canadian and UK experiences are a current extension of this work.

Dr. Lonnie L. Jones

PhD in Agricultural Economics from Ohio State University. He is currently a professor emeritus in the Department of Agricultural Economics. He recently retired after 38 years as a professor at Texas A&M.

Publications include 42 journal articles. He has directed and supervised 18 PhD and Master’s level theses, five books, 75 bulletins and technical articles, and a great variety of professional documents. In 2005, Dr. Jones was awarded an honorary doctorate, honoris causis, by Universidad del Valle de Guatemala.

Dr. Jones currently manages a commercial livestock ranch near Bryan, Texas.

Dr. Parr Rosson

PhD in Agricultural Economics from Texas A&M University. Professor/Extension Economist and Director, Center for North American Studies, Department of Agricultural Economics, Texas A&M University. Member of the following associations: Co-chair, Agribusiness and Fisheries Committee, Border Trade Alliance; Member, Agricultural Trade Advisory Committee, USDA and U.S. Trade Representative; Member, Agriculture Subcommittee, Commercial Operations Advisory Committee, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Dr. Rosson teaches courses in International Trade and Agriculture and International Agribusiness Marketing.

Developed diverse extension and research work on topics such as the Distance Education Development and International Agribusiness Curriculum Development; International Trade and The Environment: “Environmental Impact in the Texas Rio Grande Valley”; Agricultural Marketing Service; Federal State Improvement Program; USDA, NAFTA’s impact on fluid milk industry; International Marketing Curriculum for the Center of Small Businesses Development; and Texas Economic Development Corporation.

His various publications include: Southern Agriculture in a Global Economy; Selected Policies for a Changing Agriculture.

Area of Management:

Dr. Julian Gaspar - Clinical Professor of Finance

Ph.D. in International and Monetary Economics, Georgetown University, 1982; MBA in International Business and Finance, Indiana University, 1975; B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering, University of Madras, India, 1971.

Professor Gaspar is the Director of Texas A&M University’s Center for International Business Studies (CIBS) and Center for International Business Education and Research (a federally funded CIBER) where he has been responsible for internationalizing the educational and research programs of Mays Business School since 1991. Concurrently, he is a Clinical Professor of Finance with the Finance Department of Mays Business School, where he teaches International Finance at the undergraduate and masters’ level. He also conducts an annual Study Abroad program for Mays business undergraduates at IECS Graduate School of Management in Strasbourg, France. Dr. Gaspar offers an annual seminar in International Finance in France for European graduate students. He is the lead author of a new (2006 copyright) Introduction to Business textbook, the first of its kind to infuse the role of globalization, ethics, and technology into the entire textbook. He has authored a case study (funded by the Eurasia Foundation) of a major U.S. MNC’s entry into Russia. Dr. Gaspar has extensive international and corporate experience having traveled/lived in over 50 countries. He worked for Bank of America and the World Bank for over a decade prior to joining Texas A&M University. He currently consults with the U.S. Department of State to reform business education in transition economies of Central Asia and Russia.

Dr. Charlie Hall – Texas A&M University

Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Mississippi State University. For thirteen years he was a professor of the Department of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University where he taught strategic management and held the position of Director of the Agribusiness Master’s Program before joining the faculty at the University of Tennessee in 2002. In 2007, Dr. Hall returned to Texas A&M University as Professor and Ellison Chair in International Floriculture.

His areas of specialization include fresh fruit and vegetables marketing, horticultural products costs of production; international trade of horticultural products; marketing of organically produced horticultural products; direct marketing of fruits and vegetables.

Awards and recognitions include: Epsilon Sigma Promising Career Award, Philadelphia State; Epsilon Sigma Merit Services Certificate of Philadelphia; Mississippi State Hall of Fame Recognition, Mississippi State University; and Ph.D. Prominent Student Award of Mississippi State University.

Dr. Kerry Litzenberg

Kerry Litzenberg is a professor and Associate Department Head in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University. Since joining the A&M faculty in January 1979, his primary activities have included teaching and research in: agribusiness management, food and agriculture sales and sales management, human resource planning and performance appraisal, and application of computers and quantitative techniques for decision making. Dr. Litzenberg has been active at the national and international level in development of agribusiness curricula, serving as chair of the Resident Instruction Committee for the American Agricultural Economics Association, and as visiting professor at Curtin University in Western Australia and University of Queensland in Australia. CAFE, a recent project to survey Chief Agribusiness and Food Executives, identified the major skills required for top-level executives in agribusiness firms.

Kerry Litzenberg received his B.S. in Agricultural Education (1971), M.S. in Educational Counseling (1972) and Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics (1979) from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana

Litzenberg has been awarded numerous teaching awards from various groups including: Texas A&M Former Students Association Distinguished Teaching award (1983, 1985, and 1997), Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity "Professor of the Year" award, TAMU Collegiate FFA outstanding professor, and Saddle and Sirloin's Excellence in Teaching award. Another award is the National Teaching Award by the American Agricultural Economics Association. His greatest love is working closely with a wide array of students in the development of their academic and professional lives.

Dr. John Penson

Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics, University of Illinois, 1973

Dr. Penson holds the title of Regents Professor and Stiles Professor of Agriculture in the Department of Agriculture at Texas A&M University. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Achievement Award for both Teaching and Research from the Former Students Association at Texas A&M, the Honor Professor Award from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at Texas A&M, and several national and regional awards, including the distinguished teaching and research awards from the American Agricultural Economics Association. He received the Outstanding Alumnus Award from Southern Illinois University where he received his BS and MS degrees.

Has written numerous articles that have appeared in national and international journals, including the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, British Journal of Agricultural Economics, and European Journal of Operations Research. He just completed a three-year term as Editor of the Journal of Agricultural & Applied Economics published by the Southern Agricultural Economics Association and he is currently Co-Editor of the electronic magazine Choices, which is published by the American Agricultural Economic Association. Finally, he is the author of 15 books, including Introduction to Agricultural Economics, which is now in its 4^th edition and is used in 64 colleges as universities in the United States and well as universities in Canada, Russia, Taiwan and South Korea.

Dr. Penson’s research interests are in the areas of finance and macroeconomics. He has served as a consultant to a broad array of state and national governments as well as lending institutions and financial regulatory institutions.

Dr. Luis Alejandro Ribera

Received his B.S. and M.S. from the University of Arkansas and the Ph.D. from Texas A&M University, all in Agricultural Economics with emphasis in Risk Analysis, Simulation and Econometric Modeling. Presently, he is an Assistant Professor and Extension Economist of the Department of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University. His research interests are to apply risk analysis and econometric tools on business management and economic analysis.

Dr. Ribera worked on research to compare feasibility and profitability of no-tillage vs. conventional tillage systems. Also, works facilitating linkages on Latin American projects pursuing research on technology transfer in Bolivian, Chilean and Peruvian agriculture and agricultural policy. He has worked with the Bolivian Ministry of Agriculture and the Agricultural Committee of the Lower House in an effort to create a center to analyze agricultural policy in Bolivia.

Currently, he is working on econometric modeling of U.S. natural fibers for policy analysis. He is also working on competitive analysis in crop production between U.S. and Latin America, and the economic feasibility of carbon sequestration in agriculture.

Dr. Mark Welch

Dr. J. Mark Welch is an Extension Economist with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University specializing in grain marketing. Mark received a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa and his Master of Science Degree in Agriculture: Business and Economics from West Texas A&M University.

Mark operated a farm and cattle feedlot in Castro County, Texas prior to attending Texas Tech University to earn his PhD in Agricultural Economics. He worked as a Research Scientist with the Cotton Economics Research Institute at Texas Tech.

His current research and Extension appointment are focused on the interests of all stakeholders in the grain industry, particularly in the areas of risk management and market analysis.

Area of Quantitative Analysis:

Previously mentioned:

Dr. David Bessler