• May 4, 2008 - "Some Good Minnesota Economy News, For A Change - Esme Murphy, reporter for WCCO-TV,  talked with U of M Applied Economics Professer and Minnesota Economist, Tom Stinson, about the silver lining to the state's economy."

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• May 8, 2008 - Brian Buhr Named New Department Head
  
  Dear Friends,
  
  I am pleased to announce Dr. Brian Buhr has accepted the position of head of the Department of Applied Economics effective July 1, 2008.  Dr. Buhr has been a member of the Applied Economics faculty for nearly 16 years and maintains the E. Fred Koller Endowed Chair in Management Information Systems.
  
  Brian grew up on a crop and livestock farm in northeastern Iowa and received his PhD in Agricultural Economics from Iowa State University. His research is primarily in commodity marketing and information systems, including assessing the economic impacts of traceability in supply chains, and the development and use of contracts in supply chain management, in addition to other areas. Recent scholarly achievements involved a multi-year project with the National Pork Board to evaluate the value of the Latino pork market and to create case-study examples of value added enterprises in pork production.
  
  Brian has been recognized for his work with key agri-business leaders to evaluate the economic value of animal agriculture in Minnesota. As a result of Brian's research findings, a statewide task force headed by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture to improve the economic potential for animal agriculture in Minnesota was commissioned; Brian serves as an adviser to this task force and to other related efforts.
  
  His strong commitment to service in the University and the department is evident as the undergraduate major coordinator for the Agricultural and Food Business Management major, past Faculty Consultative Committee Chair, and University of Minnesota Faculty Senator. His teaching assignments have included the Commodity Marketing and Futures and Options marketing courses.
  
  Brian succeeds Dr. Robert King, a leader of distinction. Among many notable accomplishments as department head, Rob has been a promoter of excellence in research, innovator of interdisciplinary graduate programs, recruiter of high quality students, and champion of public engagement. We are truly grateful for his tenacious leadership and commitment these past four years.
  
  My thanks to the department's participation in this important process, to Mark Ascerno for his leadership as chair of the committee, and the members of the search committee for their efforts in facilitating the search process for this critical role in CFANS.
  
  Please join me in congratulating Brian.
  
  Allen S. Levine
  Dean
  College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences
  
  
• Professor Emeritus G. Edward Schuh Dies
  
  Dear Colleagues,
  
  I am very sad to convey the news that University of Minnesota Regents Professor Emeritus G. Edward Schuh died on Sunday afternoon, May 4, from complications following heart surgery on May 1.  He was 77.  When he died, Ed was surrounded by his wife, Ignez, and their three daughters, Audrey, Susan, and Tanya.  A visitation will be held this Thursday, May 8th from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Mueller Bies Funeral Home on Dale Street and County Road B in Roseville.  The funeral will be on Friday, May 9th from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at St. Jerome’s Church at 380 East Roselawn Avenue in Maplewood.  A luncheon reception will follow the funeral mass.
  
  Ed was a Hoosier, and he received his B.S. degree in agricultural education from Purdue University in 1952.  He went on to study agricultural economics at Michigan State University, where he was awarded his M.S. degree in 1954.  After two years in the U.S. Army, he entered the graduate program in economics at the University of Chicago, where he completed his Ph.D. in 1961.
  
  Ed joined the Agricultural Economics faculty at Purdue University in 1961 and quickly rose to the rank of professor in 1965.  He was a Visiting Professor at the Federal University of Vicosa in Brazil from 1963 to 1965, and it was there he met his lifelong love, Ignez.  This also was the beginning of a lifelong connection with Brazil that continued until his death.  In July 2004, Ed was honored by the Brazilian Society of Agricultural Economics with a new award – Legendary Member of the Society – in recognition of his lifetime contributions. In April 2005, he received the National Order of Scientific Merit, Grã Cruz, from the Brazilian Academy of Science and the Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology. This is Brazil’s highest scientific award and is considered the equivalent of the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom.
  
  Ed remained at Purdue University until 1979, but during that time he served as program Advisor to the Ford Foundation, Senior Staff Economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisors under President Ford, and Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs and Commodity Programs at USDA.
  
  Ed joined what was then the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota in 1979 as Head, and he served in that capacity until 1984.  This was a time of growth and change in the Department, with many new faces and a constant stream of high-level visitors.  There were new initiatives focusing on state, national, and international issues; and we had a large, diverse graduate program with outstanding students who are now leaders in our profession.  Ed also was very successful in attracting gift funds.  He played a key role in the establishment of our first endowed chair – the E. Fred Koller Chair in Agricultural Management Information Systems.  Later, he was successful in raising endowment funds for the Center for International Food and Agricultural Policy – a center that has contributed significantly to our Department over more than twenty years.
  
  Ed resigned as Department Head in the early fall of 1984 to take the position of Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development at the World Bank.  He was there until 1987 when he returned to the University of Minnesota as Dean of the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.  Ed served in that capacity until 1996.  He later became the Orville and Jane Freeman Professor in International Trade and Investment Policy, a position he held until his retirement in November 2007.
  
  Ed made truly significant professional contributions through his work on trade, foreign exchange rates and international financial markets in an open world economy, poverty and food security, agricultural policy, and science and technology policy.  He received the American Agricultural Economics Association award for Best Published Research in 1971 for his book Agricultural Development in Brazil, and three years later his article on “The Exchange Rate and U.S. Agriculture” received the Best Article prize from the American Journal of Agricultural Economics.  Ed served as President of AAEA in 1981-82 and he was elected a Fellow of the Association in 1984.  He was also a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  He received honorary doctoral degrees from the Federal University of Vicosa and from Purdue University.  In 1998 he was elected a Regents Professor, the highest honor possible here at the University of Minnesota. Just last week, we learned that Ed was a 2008 recipient of the University of Minnesota Presidents Award for Outstanding Service for providing exceptional service to the University community.
  
  Ed’s published work will continue to inspire and challenge scholars for many years to come, but the impacts he had on the lives of people around him will be just as long lived.  Ed was completely devoted to Ignez and their children.  One rarely had a conversation with him without getting some news of Ed’s family and being asked about one’s own.  Ed was a mentor for countless graduate students from all around the world, and he was a trusted friend to colleagues everywhere he has been.
  
  Sincerely,
  Rob King
  Professor and Head
  Department of Applied Economics
  University Of Minnesota
  
  P.S.  Flowers are welcome, however the family prefers memorial donations.  We will send a memorial on behalf of the department.
  
  Should you wish to send a card to Ignez Schuh, her address is:
  
  8400 Demontreville Trail North
  Lake Elmo, MN  55042
  
  Also, the following is a link to a website that will have more information on plans for services: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/georgeedwardschuh