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Alumni in Industry Classroom Visits

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AAEC actively engages with alumni and industry locally, regionally, statewide, nationally, and internationally. We are continually curating a list of alumni and stakeholders willing to share their expertise with students, enriching experiential learning opportunities in the classroom. Choose from the list below to book your classroom visit.  Contact: Melissa Vidmar: Marketing, Communications, and Partnerships Manager

List of alumni and industry speakers: Updated 9.3.2025

Name: Meredith Adams - SCHEDULE MEREDITH

  • Expertise: Agribusiness, Production Agriculture, Sales, Marketing, Digital Innovation, Ag Technology, CRM, Project Management, People Management, Strategic Planning
  • Interested in presenting:  Virtually for any class AAEC offers; Specific classes of interest include AAEC 2434, 3424,3454, 3504, 4404. 4414, 4514
  • Title/employer: Sales Process and Systems Strategy Lead, Bayer Crop Science
  • Class year/degree: B.S. Agribusiness Management 2015, M.S. Agriculture and Applied Economics 2016

Name: Anna Kate Bills - SCHEDULE ANNA KATE

  • Expertise: Recruitment, resumes
  • Interested in presenting: In person or virtually for any class AAEC offers
  • Title/employer: Systems Management, Co-owner and Controller
  • Class year/degree: Agribusiness Management 2018
  • My journey

Other: Young Alumni Council co-chair; Story spotlight

Name: Bret Hathaway - SCHEDULE BRET

  • Expertise: Commodity Markets, Procurement, Supply Chain, Negotiation, CPG Companies, Food Manufacturing
  • Interested in presenting: In Person and/or Virtually for any class of interest
  • Title: Senior Director of Procurement – Commodities
  • Employer: Flowers Foods
  • Class year/degree: Associate in Ag Tech 2011; BS in Agribusiness Management 2014; MS in Agricultural and Applied Economics 2017

Name: Zach Jacobs | SCHEDULE ZACK

  • Expertise: General Government Work (Legislative and Executive Branch Experiences), Legislative and External Affairs, Agriculture Policy, Education Policy, Career and Technical Education, Professional Development, Communication, Grass Roots Efforts
  • Interested in presenting: In person or virtually, for any class AAEC offers
  • Title/employer: Assistant Secretary of Education for the Office of Governor Glenn Youngkin
  • Class year/degree: Agribusiness Management and National Security and Foreign Affairs 2019
  • My journey

Name: Brett Smith | SCHEDULE BRETT

  • Expertise: Entrepreneurship, business operations, marketing
  • Interested in presenting: In person or virtually, for any class AAEC offers
  • Title/employer: Whitley’s Peanut Factory, Business and Product Development Manager
  • Class year/degree: Agribusiness Management 2018

Name: Alpha Diallo | SCHEDULE ALPHA

  • Expertise: Collecting, cleaning, preprocessing, and analyzing data
  • Interested in presenting: Virtually for AAEC 3014 - Analytical Methods in Applied Economics; 1-3 times a semester
  • Title/employer:  Co-chair: Technical Program Manager, Strategy, and Insights at Meta
  • Class year/degree: 2016, Applied Economic Management
  • My journey

Other: Young Alumni Council co-chair

Name: Jesse Richardson | SCHEDULE JESSE  

  • Expertise: Agricultural law, water law, land use law, real estate law
  • Interested in presenting:  In person or virtually
  • Title/employer:  Professor of Law, West Virginia University College of Law
  • Class year/degree: 1984 B.S. Agricultural Economics, 1998 M.S. Agricultural and Applied Economics

Name: Andrew Sowell | SCHEDULE ANDREW

  • Expertise: Career advice and activities and outreach as it relates to the USDA Economic Research Service
  • Interested in presenting: In person or virtually for AAEC 3514: Agricultural Futures and Options; AAEC 4484: Applied Economic Forecasting; AAEC 4504: Agricultural Price and Market Analysis; AAEC 3204: International Agricultural Development and Trade; and AAEC 4135: International Economics; or other classes looking for career-related presentations
  • Title/employer: Agricultural Economist, USDA Economic Research Service
  • Class year/degree: 2009, Agricultural and Applied Economics, focus in International Trade and Development

Name: Emily Mertes | SCHEDULE EMILY

  • Expertise: Agricultural marketing, digital data marketing
  • Interested in presenting: Virtually for any AAEC class in agricultural marketing
  • Title/employer: Traveling internationally working on different farms
  • Class year/degree: 2018, Agricultural and Applied Economics with a focus on Environmental Economics, Management, and Policy
  • My journey

Other: Young Alumni Council member; Story spotlight

Name: Meredith Adams - SCHEDULE MEREDITH

  • Expertise: Agribusiness, Production Agriculture, Sales, Marketing, Digital Innovation, Ag Technology, CRM, Project Management, People Management, Strategic Planning
  • Interested in presenting:  Virtually for any class AAEC offers; Specific classes of interest include AAEC 2434, 3424,3454, 3504, 4404. 4414, 4514
  • Title/employer: Sales Process and Systems Strategy Lead, Bayer Crop Science
  • Class year/degree: B.S. Agribusiness Management 2015, M.S. Agriculture and Applied Economics 2016

Name: John Dillard | SCHEDULE JOHN

  • Expertise: Food, agriculture, environmental law from a regulatory perspective
  • Interested in presenting: In person once a semester or virtually
  • Title/employer: Principal, OFW Law
  • Class year/degree: 2005, Agricultural and Applied Economics, Animal and Poultry Sciences

Other: Story spotlight

Name: Evan McKay | SCHEDULE EVAN

  • Expertise: Commodity trading, international agricultural trade
  • Interested in presenting: In person or virtually
  • Title/employer: Associate Merchandiser, Perdue AgriBusiness
  • Class year/degree: 2024, Masters, Agricultural and Applied Economics

Name: Olivera Jankovska | SCHEDULE OLIVERA

  • Expertise: Applied Econ, Finance, Non-profit work, Humanitarian work International Organizations, Education, Publishing
  • Interested in presenting: In person once a semester or virtually
  • Title/employer: Director of Education & Youth Engagement, Mayor’s Office, City of Houston
  • Class year/degree: 2011, Master of Science, Agricultural and Applied Economics

Name: Tommy Didlake | SCHEDULE TOMMY

  • Expertise: 34 years of accounting and finance experience with 17 of those at Southern States Cooperative, Inc. which is an agricultural retail cooperative headquartered in Richmond, Va.
  • Interested in presenting: Virtually, Ag Finance
  • Title/employer: CFO at Southern States Cooperative, Inc.

Name: Mark Petry | SCHEDULE MARK

  • Expertise: Agricultural trade; Agricultural Trade Policy, USDA Ag Export Programs
  • Interested in presenting: Virtually to 1) AAEC 3204 - International Agricultural Development and Trade, 2) AAEC 4135 - International Economics, 3) AAEC 4136 - International Economics
  • Title/employer: Deputy Administrator, Foreign Affairs, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA/FAS)

Name: Eberechukwu Onukwugha, '97, '04 Ph.D. | SCHEDULE EBERECHUKWU

  • Title/employer: Professor in the Department of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and executive director of the Pharmaceutical Research Computing Center at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. Service role with the Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research.

Bio: Dr. Onukwugha received a B.S. in economics and French from the University at Albany, State University of New York, a Master of Science in agricultural and applied economics, as well as a Doctor of Philosophy in economics (concentration: econometrics) from Virginia Tech. Dr. Onukwugha completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in pharmacoeconomics and health outcomes research at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy.

Dr. Onukwugha’s research interests are in pharmacoeconomic analysis, health disparities, and medical decision-making by individuals and institutions. She examines the costs and health outcomes associated with health-related decisions as well as the institutional and environmental context framing individuals’ health-related decisions. The health-related decisions of interest include the decision to receive guideline-recommended treatment, self-care following a hospital discharge, and healthcare resource utilization in the oncology and cardiovascular disease settings.

Her research on cost-effectiveness and regression modeling has received Contributed Research Awards at international conferences sponsored by the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research.  Dr. Onukwugha’s research has been published in journals such as Cancer, Urologic Oncology: Seminars and Original Investigations, Journal of General Internal Medicine, JCO: Clinical Cancer Informatics, PharmacoEconomics, Journal of Geriatric Oncology, Value in Health, Ethnicity & Disease, Medical Care, Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy, Journal of Oncology Practice, and Medical Decision Making.  Dr. Onukwugha is an Editorial Board member for PharmacoEconomics and an associate editor for Ethnicity & Disease.

Name: Spencer Phillips '92 Ph.D. | SCHEDULE SPENCER

  • Title/employer: Assistant professor of global studies at the University of Virginia and founder of Key-Log Economics

Bio: Spencer Phillips is an ecological economist with more than 30 years’ experience focused on the intersection of economic development and environmental stewardship. His passion is for helping people and institutions realize — that is, to understand and to attain — the benefits of environmental improvement. He achieves this through research into the value of ecosystem services, especially as impacted by climate change, land and resource waste management, and efforts to reduce air, water, and solid waste pollution, and by communicating these values to stakeholders and decisionmakers at all levels of government. 

Prior to joining the Global Studies faculty, Spencer founded Key-Log Economics in Charlottesville and its sister social enterprise, Key-Log Economics Vietnam, in Hanoi. These consultancies provide “research and strategy for the land community” and help government, business, and civil society organizations achieve their conservation, sustainable development, and organizational goals. Previously, he was a staff economist at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Executive Director of NorthWoods Stewardship Center, and senior economist and Vice President for Ecology and Economics Research at The Wilderness Society. 

Spencer added university teaching to his career in 2013, with courses ranging from intermediate microeconomics to GIS for public policy in UVa’s Department of Economics and Batten school as well as a new Education Abroad program in Vietnam that we hope will return for J-Term 2022. He has also taught environmental/ecological/development economics in the online masters programs at Goucher College and University of Maryland Global Campus. Most recently he taught introductory microeconomics to the inaugural class of VinUniversity’s College of Business and Management in Hanoi.

With this mix of academic, NGO leadership, business startup, and policy-focused applied research, Spencer likes to teach concepts and methods in ways that are grounded in, and applied to, real-world challenges. His courses will draw from his past and ongoing work on climate change, solid waste management, food systems, energy supply, biodiversity conservation and other pressing environmental challenges/opportunities. 

Spencer’s Ph.D. and MS are in Agricultural and Applied Economics from Virginia Tech. With a B.A. in economics being from the University of Virginia, Spencer is delighted to be back on Grounds for a third time. 

Backpacking on a snowy Mt. Rogers for spring break in 1983 re-connected Spencer to wildlands and sparked his passion for exploring the intersections of wilderness with human and economic development. Whenever possible — which has been all too infrequent living these past three years among 8 million people in Ha Noi, Vietnam — he continues that exploration by hiking, bicycling, boating, and volunteering with local environmental and animal welfare organizations.

Name: Narendra P. Sharma Ph.D. | SCHEDULE NARENDRA

  • Title/employer: Worked more than thirty years with the World Bank in finance and economic development before retiring, and is the Founder and Chair of Neighborhood Outreach Connection (NOC)

Bio: Dr. Narendra P. Sharma is currently a consultant specializing in applied economic development and finance, public policy and project analysis, environmental management, and organizational effectiveness. He has a Ph.D. in economic development from Virginia Tech, as well as an MS from Rutgers, an MEM from Duke University, and a B.S. from the University of Hawaii.  

Dr. Sharma worked for more than 32 years at the World Bank in Washington, DC, where he was involved in finance and economic development in more than 50 developing countries in Asia and the Pacific, South America, Central America and the Caribbean, and Africa.   He has traveled widely throughout the world and has a broad international perspective on and understanding of social, economic development, and environmental issues at the global, regional, national, and local levels.  He has over 30 years of experience in management and in dealing with high-ranking government civil servants, international and regional policy forums, multi- and bilateral development agencies, non-governmental organizations, and businesses.

Dr. Sharma has also been involved in teaching and research. He was Adjunct Professor in Duke University’s School of the Environment and has more than 25 years of experience in training and mentoring people, and was Director of Community Outreach, University of South Carolina, Beaufort (USCB).

Name: Deb Markley '84 Ph.D. | SCHEDULE DEB

  • Title/employer: Executive Director, Community & Sector Partnerships
  • Interested in speaking one-on-one with students interested in rural economic development in the U.S., especially those focused on rural capital access.

Previous: 

  • Co-Founder and Co-Director, Center for Rural Entrepreneurship
  • Rural Development Economist and Principal, Policy Research Group
  • Rural Development Economist, Dept. of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University
  • Adjunct and Assistant Professors, Dept. of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Massachusetts
  • Assistant Professor, Dept. of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, University of Tennessee-Knoxville

She has extensive experience conducting field-based survey research projects and has conducted focus groups and interviews with rural bankers, entrepreneurs, business service providers, venture capitalists, small manufacturers, and others. Her research has been presented in academic journals, as well as to national public policy organizations and Congressional committees.