Chief Economist Joe Glauber to leave USDA

WASHINGTON, Dec. 11, 2014 – USDA Chief Economist Joe Glauber is set to retire from federal service, the agency announced today.

Glauber has been the department’s chief economist since March 2008, when he was named to the post by then-Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer. He’d been deputy chief economist from 1992 to 2007, before serving a brief stint with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said he wishes Glauber well “as he begins the next phase of his distinguished career.”

"No one has a higher level of credibility on issues impacting the agricultural economy than Dr. Glauber,” Vilsack said in a statement. “Farm country and, truly, the country as a whole have been extraordinarily well served by Joe throughout his 30 years of federal service.”

As the chief economist, Glauber, who holds a Ph.D. in agricultural economics from the University of Wisconsin, was responsible for USDA’s agricultural forecasts and projections and for advising the Secretary of Agriculture on economic implications of alternative programs, regulations and legislative proposals. He was also responsible for the Office of the Chief Economist, the World Agricultural Outlook Board, the Office of Risk Assessment and Cost-Benefit analysis, the Global Change Program Office, and the Office of Energy Policy and New Uses.

Glauber will be moving to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), where he will be a Visiting Senior Research Fellow. Robert Johansson, who’s been USDA’s deputy chief economist since 2012, has been named acting chief effective Jan. 1. Johansson holds a Ph.D. in agricultural economics from the University of Minnesota.

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