Since 1925, New Mexico State University’s Department of Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Business and Department of Extension Economics have worked to address economic, environmental, social and technological issues in the agricultural industry.
Housed in NMSU’s College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, the department will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a Century Club Social Friday, Nov. 8. The event will be held from 4 to 11 p.m. at The Game Restaurant, 2605 S. Espina St. in Las Cruces, and is open to alumni, students, current and former faculty and staff members, industry partners and the community. To join the Century Club, donations can be made online.
“From our humble beginnings in 1925 with just one faculty member and one undergraduate major, we have grown into a department with 17 faculty members, multiple undergraduate and graduate programs, impactful extension and outreach initiatives, world-renowned scientists and award-winning teachers,” said Carlos Carpio Ochoa, who became the 12th head of the department when he joined NMSU earlier this year.
“This benchmark signals the continuous efforts of faculty, students and staff over all these years; however, the future for the department is brighter with its seasoned and new faculty and outstanding leadership that will complement the challenges ahead,” College of ACES Dean Rolando Flores said.
Carpio said students are at the center of everything the department does.
“We want to continue preparing our students to be professionals who contribute to the challenges of feeding the world’s population and preserving the environment,” he said. “Professionals in agricultural economics and agribusiness must be at the forefront of addressing these challenges. Our commitment to educating future agribusiness and community leaders and advancing agricultural knowledge and practice will continue to drive us forward.”
Founded in 1925 after the Purnell Act was signed, NMSU established the Department of Agricultural Economics. Eight years later, the department’s first graduate, Reginald Howard, earned a degree in agricultural economics.
In 1956, the master’s degree in agricultural economics was approved, and four undergraduate programs, farm and ranch operations; professional agricultural economics; water resources; and agricultural business, were added in 1959. The following year, the department was renamed the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Business.
In 2007, the department became a founding member of one of the two multidisciplinary doctoral programs it is part of: the Ph.D. in Water Science and Management.
To learn more about Department of Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Business, visit aeab.nmsu.edu.
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CUTLINE: New Mexico State University’s Department of Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Business and Department of Extension Economics will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a social Friday, Nov. 8. Recent department highlights include NMSU’s National Agri-Marketing Association chapter winning the national student marketing competition in 2023. (NMSU photo by Ingrid Leyva)