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OSU ag economist Kim Anderson receives double honor
STILLWATER, Okla. – Oklahoma State University’s Kim Anderson received a double honor this summer, garnering two awards from the Western Agricultural Economics Association.
Anderson received the WAEA Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award for members with more than 10 years experience and the WAEA Outstanding Extension Program Award for career accomplishments.
A faculty member in the OSU department of agricultural economics, Anderson serves as Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service grain marketing specialist and holds the Charles A. Breedlove professorship in agribusiness.
“Kim has always been on the cutting edge of program delivery, recognizing early in his career the numbers reached through radio, television and the popular press,” said Mike Woods, head of OSU’s department of agricultural economics.
A fixture on television and radio as well as in newspapers and agricultural magazines throughout the region, Anderson has even been featured on “Good Morning America,” the ABC national morning television news program.
Woods said Anderson has established an outstanding Extension program in grain marketing and risk management that has benefited producers, agribusiness owners, agricultural cooperatives, agricultural lenders, commodity brokers, students and other Extension personnel throughout Oklahoma, around the nation and beyond.
“Kim has taught countless producers that their most valuable piece of equipment is not their combine or tractor, it is the pencil they use to develop plans because successful marketing and risk management determine profit, which collectively impacts the economy and quality of life for all Oklahoma,” Woods said.
In the classroom, Anderson’s approach is anything but typical: He holds students accountable as “employees,” and students must complete the “Sashay with a Salesperson” and “Ready, Set, Sell” projects to pass the course. Both projects require students to interact heavily with industry professionals. He even gives his own “infomercials,” making explanations to students about how they will use the information presented in his lectures not only entertaining but more memorable, and therefore more effective.
OSU agricultural economist Phil Kenkel, holder of the university’s Bill Fitzwater Endowed Cooperative Chair, said one message came across time and again from faculty and students when he was identifying how to structure an outstanding class: “If you want to develop a great class, figure out how Dr. Kim Anderson does it.”
Anderson designed his Agricultural Product Marketing and Sales course – which averages an enrollment of 114 students each semester – from the ground up.
“Students love his class,” Kenkel said. “Kim spent time at a local implement dealer. He rode with other agri-sales professionals. He identified the best aspects of similar courses across the nation. The result was a course filled with hands-on experiences, industry interaction and a real-world focus.”
The class attracts students from across the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, as well as the OSU School of Business.
A faculty member in the department of agricultural economics since August 1982, Anderson is also a Cowboy alumnus, having earned his Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and doctoral degrees at OSU in 1974, 1976 and 1980, respectively. He served on the faculty of the University of Kentucky from 1980-1982.
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REPORTER/MEDIA CONTACT:
Donald Stotts
News and Media Relations Manager
Agricultural Communications Services
143 Agriculture North
Oklahoma State
University
Stillwater, OK 74078
Phone: 405-744-4079
Fax: 405-744-5739
E-Mail: donald.stotts@okstate.edu
