Real-World Voices in the Classroom: Alumni and Industry Requests

Meredith Adams

• 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

Anna Kate Bills

• 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

Alpha Diallo

• 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: Technical Program Manager, Strategy, and Insights at Meta
• Class year/degree: 2016, Applied Economic Management

Tommy Didlake

• 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.

John Dillard

• Expertise: Food, agriculture, and 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

Bret Hathaway

• 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

Zach Jacobs

• 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: Virtually, for any class AAEC offers
• Title/employer: Deputy Chief of Staff at the Arkansas Department of Education under Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Secretary Jacob Oliva
• Class year/degree: Agribusiness Management and National Security and Foreign Affairs 2019

Olivera Jankovska

• 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

Deb Markley '84 Ph.D.

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

Evan McKay

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

Eberechukwu Onukwugha, '97, '04 Ph.D.

• 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.

Mark Petry

• 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)

Spencer Phillips '92 Ph.D.

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

Jesse Richardson

• 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

Narendra P. Sharma, Ph.D.

• 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)

Brett Smith

• 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

Andrew Sowell

• Expertise: Career advice, 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, with a focus in International Trade and Development