MSU names Chad Cotti new chair for the Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics
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EmailChad Cotti, Ph.D., was named chairperson of Michigan State University’s (MSU) Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics (AFRE), effective August 1, 2023.
Chad Cotti, Ph.D., has been named chairperson of Michigan State University’s (MSU) Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics (AFRE) in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR). The five-year appointment is effective August 1, 2023, and is contingent upon the approval of MSU’s Board of Trustees.
“I’m so pleased to welcome Dr. Cotti to the Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics at MSU, which is home to some of the world’s leading agricultural economists,” said Kelly F. Millenbah, dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. “It takes an exceptional administrator and scholar to lead such a highly regarded department, and he is certainly up to the task. Dr. Cotti will bring a spirit of curiosity and collaboration to this role, and I believe that his leadership will benefit our college, our students, our state and our valued stakeholders.”
Cotti replaces Scott Swinton, Ph.D., who served as AFRE chairperson from 2021 to 2023. Swinton, who was named a University Distinguished Professor in 2019, will rejoin the AFRE faculty.
“Dr. Swinton’s many contributions have positioned AFRE to attain even higher levels of excellence in the coming years, and we are all grateful for his skilled leadership,” said Millenbah.
Cotti most recently served as a tenured faculty member in the Department of Economics at the University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh, where he held the titles of Oshkosh Corporation Endowed Professor and John McNaughton Rosebush Professor. He was the chair of the Department of Economics at University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh from 2015 to 2021 and served in critical administrative roles in managing the university-wide COVID-19 response. He was a tenured associate professor at the University of Connecticut (a fellow land-grant institution) and an assistant clinical professor at the University of South Carolina.
“I am excited to join the Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics and the MSU family. AFRE is a global leader in applied economics, distinctive for its highly applied research mission and its mandate to produce impactful scholarship. It will be an honor to support and champion such an accomplished group of faculty, staff, scholars and students,” said Cotti. “I am also looking forward to working closely with the many external stakeholders throughout Michigan who are impacted by applied economics issues in the state as we continue to cultivate the important partnership between Michigan and MSU that serves as a core element of this great land-grant institution.”
As an applied microeconomist in the areas of health and public policy, Cotti focuses his scholarship on the economics of risky behaviors, food security policy and labor market policy. His work has appeared in many leading economic journals, including the Review of Economics and Statistics, the Journal of Public Economics, the Journal of Health Economics, Social Science & Medicine and the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy. He has provided media commentary to The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, National Public Radio and Forbes.
Cotti earned his doctorate in economics from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, his master of public affairs degree in public policy and administration from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and his bachelor of science degree in quantitative economics from the University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh.
