Farm Credit Services of America gift establishes endowed chair in ag business at Iowa State University
Medallion ceremony to celebrate the Ron and Lynn Deiter Endowed Chair for Sustaining Excellence in Agricultural Business
AMES, Iowa – A generous gift commitment from Farm Credit Services of America (FCSAmerica) has established the Ron and Lynn Deiter Endowed Chair for Sustaining Excellence in Agricultural Business at Iowa State University, honoring the work of professor emeritus Ron Deiter. A medallion ceremony formally installing teaching professor of economics Amani Elobeid as the inaugural holder of the endowed position will be held at 10:15 a.m. on Tuesday, May 3, in the Gallery Room at the Memorial Union on the Iowa State campus.
“We are so pleased Dr. Amani Elobeid has been named the inaugural holder of the Ron and Lynn Deiter Endowed Chair for Sustaining Excellence in Agricultural Business,” said Daniel J. Robison, holder of the Dean’s Endowed Chair in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “I am confident she will successfully carry on the legacy left by Dr. Deiter and continue to attract, retain and empower students in the Department of Economics to go on to find success in the world. A huge thanks goes out to Farm Credit Services of America for their continued support of our college.”
The Deiter Endowed Chair will support and help build upon the leadership and outstanding student experience Deiter brought to the agricultural business major and agricultural business club. Deiter retired in June 2021 after a more than 40-year career as an instructor and later full professor in the Department of Economics. For most of his tenure, he also served as the faculty sponsor of the student Ag Business Club. Deiter developed several courses, taught more than 20,000 students in 13 different courses and advised over 500 agricultural business graduates during his career.
The position will help the Department of Economics continue to attract, nurture, retain and empower the brightest minds in agriculture.
“The endowed chair builds on Dr. Deiters’ legacy and, through Dr. Elobeid, ensures young people leave ISU with the skills needed to sustain Iowa’s place as a global leader in agriculture,” said Jim Knuth, FCSAmerica’s senior vice president of business development in Iowa. “It is difficult to quantify the impact Dr. Deiter had on agricultural students and those of us in the ag industry fortunate enough to have benefitted from his vision, effort and dedication.”
FCSAmerica is a customer-owned financial cooperative providing credit and insurance services to farmers, ranchers, agribusiness and rural residents in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming.
The organization made its charitable gift through the Iowa State University Foundation, which is a private, nonprofit organization committed to securing and managing gifts that benefit Iowa State University.
Elobeid currently serves as a teaching professor in the Department of Economics and a faculty member in the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development. Her research focuses on agricultural policy analysis and the impact of biofuels on agriculture and the environment. Elobeid’s work has been published in numerous academic and industry publications. She received a bachelor’s degree with honors in economics from the University of Khartoum, Sudan, and a master’s degree and a doctorate in economics from Iowa State. She is the recipient of several awards and came to Iowa State as a Fulbright Scholar.
Through the endowed chair, Elobeid will be able to assist the department in continuing to recruit and retain agricultural business majors, encourage and lead continuous improvement in pedagogy and curriculum within the program, cultivate relationships with potential employers of Iowa State’s agricultural business graduates and continue providing outstanding teaching and learning experiences for Iowa State students, including those available through the Ag Business Club.
The Department of Economics is one of the oldest and most recognized units at Iowa State University and is jointly administered by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Contacts:
Whitney Baxter, Digital Content Creator, Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 515.294.2314, wjsager@iastate.edu
Elaine Watkins-Miller, Director of Communications/Public Relations, Iowa State University Foundation, 515.294.1005, ewmiller@foundation.iastate.edu
April 20, 2022