Woods new head of OSU agricultural economics

“Dr. Woods brings a wealth of experience and an outstanding record of teaching, research and extension accomplishments to the position,” said Robert E. Whitson, vice president, dean and director of agricultural programs at OSU. “We are very pleased that he is joining our leadership team of unit administrators.”

Woods, a member of the OSU faculty since1986, is nationally recognized as an expert in rural economic development. Last year, he was asked by Congress to speak before the House Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Rural Development and Research about how rural communities and rural regions can achieve development goals through effective use of available resources.

As department head, Woods will provide leadership for planning, developing, integrating and implementing departmental teaching, research, extension and international programs; diversity efforts of the department to recruit and retain outstanding faculty, staff and students; and the pursuit of competitive grants, research contracts, gifts and other special funding to include endowments for scholarships, fellowships and chairs and professorships.

“Mike is extremely qualified and has given a lot of thought about where the department is and where it needs to be in 5 to 10 years,” said Clem Ward, OSU professor of agricultural economics and Cooperative Extension livestock marketing specialist. “He has great integrity and is a team player who will work to develop consensus in the department as we move ahead.”

Woods is currently a senior fellow with the Southern Rural Development Center. One significant activity related to this position has been to manage a national e-commerce initiative that focuses on development of curricula for e-commerce education across the United States.

Woods served as state-provincial chair representing Oklahoma at the 2005-2006 Business Retention Expansion International and is active in the Southern Regional Program Leadership Network, a multi-state organization of Cooperative Extension professionals who foster and strengthen extension programs throughout the region to meet critical needs and issues of state residents.

Woods has also been active in the National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals, where he is president-elect; the Community Development Society; and the American Agricultural Economics Association.

He served as a faculty adviser for the OSU Aggie-X Club from 1996-1998 and from 2003-2005, and as an OSU Residence Hall faculty associate from 1998-2006. He also served as vice-chair of the OSU Agricultural Faculty Council from 2001-2002.

A Cowboy alumnus as well as a faculty member, Woods earned his doctoral degree in agricultural economics from Oklahoma State in 1981. He earned his Master of Science degree in agricultural economics from the University of Arkansas in 1978 and his Bachelor of Science degree in economics and finance from Arkansas Tech University in 1975.

Prior to joining the OSU faculty, Woods was an associate professor and Cooperative Extension economist at Texas A&M University from September 1981 to May 1986.

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REPORTER/MEDIA CONTACT:
Donald Stotts
Interim ACS Director/News and Media Relations Manager
Agricultural Communications Services
143 Printing Building
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK 74078
Phone: 405-744-4079
Fax: 405-744-5739
E-Mail: donald.stotts@okstate.edu

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