AAEC Distinguished Alumni

Ambassador
Richard T. Crowder
Ph.D. 1966
Chief Agricultural Negotiator
for the United States Trade
Representative.

• Ambassador Richard Crowder currently serves as a special advisor for the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). Most recently he served as the USTR’s chief agriculture negotiator where he was responsible for directing all U.S. agricultural trade negotiations worldwide.

“Dr. Crowder is an outstanding alumni ambassador for the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Virginia Tech,” said Kevin Boyle, professor and head of the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. “He has used the education he received at Virginia Tech to launch an outstanding career as a corporate leader and a public servant to agricultural industries.” Crowder who is originally from Mecklenberg County, Va., received his bachelor’s degree (1960) and his master’s degree (1962) in agricultural economics from Virginia Tech and his Ph.D. (1966) in agricultural economics from Oklahoma State University.

Crowder has more than 30 years experience in the food, agriculture, and international trade sectors. Before joining the USTR, he was president of the American Seed Trade Association, and served in high-level executive positions at DEKALB Genetics Corporation, Armour Swift-Eckrich, and the Pillsbury Company. He also served as Under Secretary of International Affairs and Commodity Programs for the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1989-1992, where he played leadership roles in negotiating on agricultural issues in the Uruguay Round of the GATT and managing the 1990 Farm Bill.
In 1999, Crowder established the “George T. and Estelle M. Crowder Scholarship Fund” in honor of his parents. The fund annually provides approximately $1,000 in scholarships for undergraduate students majoring in agricultural and applied economics. He also returns to campus periodically to present guest lectures to undergraduate and graduate classes.

John C. Robertson
Ph.D. 1992
Vice President and
Senior Economist for the
Federal Reserve Bank
of Atlanta

• John C. Robertson is a vice president and senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He is the team leader of the regional and Latin American research groups at the Atlanta Fed. His research interests include macroeconomic modeling and monetary policy analysis.
  
  Dr. Robertson joined the Atlanta Fed’s research department in January of 1998 from the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. His research has been published in many distinguished journals including Econometric Reviews, the Journal of Policy Modeling, the Review of Economics and Statistics, and the Carnegie-Rochester Series in Public Policy. Dr. Robertson is a member of the Econometric Society and the American Economics Association.
  
  A native of Dunedin, New Zealand, Dr. Robertson holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree with first-class honors from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. He earned his Ph.D. in economics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1992.
  
  
  




W. Taylor Hudson
M.S. 2001
Senior Account Executive
for Hedge Solutions


• Taylor Hudson is a Senior Account Executive for Hedge Solutions, a small consulting firm, that provides price risk management for small to medium size petroleum retailers and wholesalers, primarily home heating oil companies in the Northeast.

  Taylor is engaged in assisting stakeholders in the private sector with energy price risk management.  As almost everyone is aware, the energy market is exceptionally volatile.  As little as seven years ago, many energy experts predicted crude oil prices to fall into the $5 to $10 per barrel range.  Today, crude sells in the excess of $70 per barrel.  Home heating oil companies stand between this volatility and the final consumer.  Working in the energy options markets, Taylor helps these companies remain economically viable by providing strategies to buffer against uncontrollable changes in the world oil markets.

  Taylor started in the industry by developing technical models and methods to effectively manage price risk in the energy market.  After successfully developing complex technical models, he is now the company’s chief public representative, responsible for public education, trade seminars, and invited speaking engagements.  Taylor is rapidly gaining a regional reputation as an industry expert and an accomplished, engaging speaker. 

  In addition to his responsibilities as an Account Executive, Taylor works continuously to improve derivatives strategies and management tools for clients. He regularly contributes articles to Oil & Energy, a publication of the New England Fuel Institute. Taylor graduated from Virginia Tech, earning both a B.S. and M.S. in Applied Economics, with a focus on commodity market analysis and price forecasting.

  
  










Pedro Pablo Peña
M.S.. 1991
Under Minister for
Agricultural Planning,
Dominican Republic.


• Pedro Pablo Peña is the Under Minister for Agricultural Planning by the President of the Dominican Republic. In this position he advises the Minister of Agriculture on policies that promote agricultural development. He coordinates, monitors, and evaluates the annual budget and all projects affecting the agricultural sector. Pedro assessed with the competitiveness of the main agricultural products and commodities in the Dominican Republic.
  
  This comprehensive study is being used for policy and decision making by both private and public sectors. It was published by the Ministry of Agriculture as a book entitled: “Estudio del Índice de Competitividad para los Rubros Principales del Sector Agroalimentario en la República Dominicana.” With support from the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), he helped design a new agricultural institutional framework for the Dominican Republic that eliminated several institutions that no longer were needed and strengthened others that play a major role in light of new trade agreements.  With support from the World Bank, he completed a study in 2006 entitled: “Poverty Alleviation Through Reducing Distortions to Agricultural Incentives,” a detailed study of Dominican agriculture for the last 50 years, including an assessment of the macro and sector policies that have affected agriculture.  Many of the agricultural policies now being implemented in the Dominican Republic are based on the conclusions of that study.

  He is responsible for the development of 10 Masters degree programs in four Dominican universities, and for overseeing a program that sent masters and PhD students to the United States, Puerto Rico, and Costa Rica for training. Over 200 professionals have been trained in these programs.  He also managed a large Kellogg Foundation award under which 125 agricultural leaders were trained to improve the well-being of low income groups in the Dominican Republic. Pedro earned his M.S. in agricultural and Applied economics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1991.