Spiro E. Stefanou

Abstract

The biographical information published for AAEA Fellow Spiro Stefanou in the December 2006 issue of the journal was incomplete. The correct information is published below in its entirety. The editors apologize for this error. Professor, 1995 to present, Associate Professor, 1989‐95, Assistant Professor 1983‐89, Pennsylvania State University Marie Curie Fellow, University of Crete, 2006 Mansholt Scholar, Wageningen University, 2006 Visiting Professor, Mediterranean Agronomic Institute/CIHEAM (Chania), 2002 to present Visiting Professor, Wageningen University, 1995, 1996, 2003, and 2006 Visiting Professor, Institute for Advanced Studies (Vienna), 1994‐97 Jean Monnet Fellow, European University Institute, 1990‐91 Co‐Editor, 1998‐2002, Associate Editor, 1991‐97, American Journal of Agricultural Economics Editorial Boards: Agricultural Economics Review, 2003 to present, AgBioForum, 2003 to present, European Review of Agricultural Economics, 2001 to present, Journal of Productivity Analysis, 2002 to present, Northeastern Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 1989‐91 Thesis Advisor, AAEA Outstanding Ph.D. Dissertation Awards, 1988 and 1997, Torries Award for Outstanding Graduate Research, Mineral Economics and Management Society, 2002, Allan B. Colburn Outstanding Dissertation Award, University of Delaware, 1991 Harbaugh Faculty Scholar Award, Pennsylvania State University, 2001 Provost's Special Recognition Award, Pennsylvania State University, 1998 PhD, University of California, Davis, 1983 MS, University of Maryland, 1979 BA, George Washington University, 1977 Spiro E. Stefanou has made significant contributions in dynamic production analysis, the economics of productivity and innovation, the economics of adjustment, and economic policy issues. Among his accomplishments are dynamic generalizations of concepts in modern production theory such as scale and scope economies, efficiency, productivity growth, and learning‐by‐doing. Focusing on how economic dynamics arise from the accumulation and use of knowledge itself, he demonstrates how knowledge interacts with and substitutes for physical inputs in promoting an agent's objectives. In so doing, he has deepened our understanding of the value of information in its broadest sense.His hallmark as a scholar is developing creative solutions to the emerging challenges in the agricultural and food economy throughout the world.He offers an understanding of how markets and decision makers interact and use models focusing on relative incentives over time to analyze the data that can capture the core economic decision‐making relationships. As such, he sees his role as explaining the themes that can catalyze the decision maker's thinking.He is a native of Washington, DC, whose father emigrated from Palasa, an ethnic Greek village in southern Albania, and mother emigrated from Aghii Deka in Corfu, Greece. As he completed his bachelor's degree in anthropology from George Washington University, his attention moved toward agricultural economics with his emerging interests in development and trade. He received his first practical training in agricultural economics as a research assistant at IFPRI while pursuing his master's in agricultural and resource economics at the University of Maryland. Stefanou went on to earn his PhD in agricultural economics from the University of California, Davis and has spent his academic career at Pennsylvania State University.By the mid‐1990s. the AJAE editorial workload expanded to the point that few individuals and their departments could assume it. Along with his partner editors, Stefanou's solution was to revolutionize the Journal's management structure by developing the concept of recruiting and leading a team of four rotating co‐editors, as well as simultaneously transferring publication responsibilities to a commercial firm. In 2002, Stefanou stepped down after twelve years of continuous editorial service to the AJAE, with the last five years as editor.He is also committed to pursuing innovations in teaching and learning. He has pioneered problem‐based learning formats in agricultural and environmental economics while also addressing the issues of assessing the level of student learning. Graduate students find him to be a valuable mentor, with four dissertations under his direction having been acknowledged for excellence in research.Stefanou has been a commendable professional servant. In addition to his service on various AAEA committees since 1987, he has served as an editorial board member continuously since 1989 and presently maintains appointments as co‐ or associate editor for four other journals. He is also prominent in overseas economics associations and academic departments, having held visiting faculty appointments in Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, and Greece, and has delivered over 120 presentations at professional meetings or colloquia around the world. More than half of Stefanou's scholarly presentations have been on an invitational basis in 16 foreign countries. He has served on ten different international scientific committees on workshops related to productivity, efficiency and globalization as well as two summer schools in advanced applied economics training. His close contact with programs and scholars outside the U.S. has led to broadening the community of scholars interested in pursuing excellence in agricultural economics research.