James Pease honored with emeritus status
James Pease, professor of agricultural and applied economics in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech, has been conferred the title of professor emeritus by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.
The emeritus title may be conferred on retired professors, associate professors, and administrative officers who are specially recommended to the board by Virginia Tech President Tim Sands in recognition of exemplary service to the university. Nominated individuals who are approved by the board receive a copy of the resolution and a certificate of appreciation.
A member of the Virginia Tech community since 1988, Pease’s scholarship focused on the economics of water quality protection at the farm, watershed, or regional levels as well as on community and regional economic development analysis, economic impacts analysis, regional economic development, and industrial development of bioenergy. Throughout his career, he provided Virginians with nationally recognized Extension education programs on state and federal food and agricultural policy, environmental and natural resource policy, and rural and community economic development.
Pease was nominated for membership on the Chesapeake Bay Program Science and Technology Advisory Committee (STAC), which is tasked with providing scientific and technical analysis and review of policies to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay Program. He served STAC for eight years, first as a committee member and later as an executive board member, providing analysis of economics policies with the potential to affect water quality protection.
In the classroom, Pease developed and taught a popular undergraduate course on food and agricultural policy, which in turn informed his state and region-wide outreach education programs. He also coauthored a textbook on the evolution and economics of United States agricultural policy.
Pease supported undergraduate and graduate students with grant funds and many hours of academic and career advising. With his students, he developed and coauthored both popular and research journal articles on wide ranging topics such as farm computer business recordkeeping, impacts of agricultural policies on agricultural businesses, and farm management decision making under uncertainty.
Pease received his bachelor's degree from Iowa State University, a master's degree from the University of Wisconsin, and a Ph.D. from Michigan State University.
