William Nganje has joined the North Dakota State University Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics as department chair and professor.

Before joining NDSU, Nganje was an associate professor of agribusiness finance at Arizona State University’s Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness – WP Carey School of Business. Prior to that, he was an assistant professor and then an associate professor in the NDSU Agribusiness and Applied Economics Department.

“We are very pleased that Dr. Nganje has decided to return to the Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics at NDSU,” says Ken Grafton, NDSU vice president for Agricultural Affairs, director of the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station and dean of the College of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Natural Resources. “His vision, management style and credibility will allow the department to grow in size and prestige. I am pleased to have William join our administrative team in agriculture.”

Nganje earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural engineering and economics from ENSA-University in Dschang, Cameroon. He earned his doctorate degree in agricultural economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Nganje is a member of the American Agricultural Economics Association, Western Agricultural Economics Association, Western Economic Coordinating Committee on Agribusiness, International Agribusiness Management Association, Canadian Agricultural Economics Association, NC-1014 Regional Project with Agricultural Finance Emphasis, AAEA Food Safety Emphasis Group and ESCOP-ECOP Food Safety Task Force.

He has published 41 journal articles, five book chapters, and several technical reports on food safety, food terrorism, food security, economics of obesity, financial performance analysis and policies, and experimental economics.

Nganje has won best journal articles and teaching awards. Examples of awards include the 2005 Western Agricultural Economic Association Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher with less than 10 years of experience and the 2010 Best Journal Article Award from “Agribusiness, An International Journal.” He served on the editorial board of the “Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics” from 2006 to 2009. He serves on the editorial board of the “Journal of International Agricultural Trade and Development” and reviews articles for several other applied economics journals.

“These are exciting times for agriculture and applied economics because of the emerging interface among agriculture and renewable energy, increasing demand for food and a rising middle class around the globe,” Nganje says. “Our world-class faculty is poised to train the next generation of experts to help alleviate food and global economic problems. I am excited to lead our students, staff and faculty to address challenges and emerging issues in food and applied economics.”

NDSU Agriculture Communication – May 6, 2013