Darren Hudson, a veteran professor, administrator and agricultural economist with Texas Tech University's Department of Agricultural & Applied Economics, is set to receive the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award' from the Southern Agricultural Economics Association, one of the organization's highest honor. 

“I know of no one more deserving of the Lifetime Achieve Award than Dr. Darren Hudson,” said Phillip Johnson, chair of Tech's Department of Agricultural & Applied Economics. “He has devoted his career to advancing the agricultural economics profession and serving the agricultural industry.”

Hudson, who joined the Texas Tech faculty in 2008, serves a Professor and the Larry Combest Endowed Chair for Agricultural Competitiveness, along with being Director of the university's International Center for Agricultural Competitiveness. 

The SAEA lifetime award, which recognizes significant and enduring contributions in scholarship or public service to southern agricultural economics, will be presented on Tuesday (Feb. 7) at a special SAEA Lifetime Achievement Awards Presentation in Oklahoma City. The event is part of the SAEA's Annual Meeting Program.

Hudson's research interests include agricultural policy and trade, economic development, marketing and consumer demand, and behavioral economics. In addition, he participates in the Food & Agricultural Policy Research Institute consortium producing annual baseline projections for cotton for the group. 

Prior to coming to Texas Tech, Hudson was a professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Mississippi State University. In addition, from 2006 to 2009, he was a fellow with The Farm Foundation, an Oak Brook, Ill.-based agricultural organization that focuses on economic and policy issues impacting agriculture, the food system and rural America.

A native of White Deer, Hudson received his bachelor's degree in agribusiness from West Texas A&M University, and his master's and doctorate degrees in agricultural and applied economics from Texas Tech. He is a member of SAEA, along with the American Economic Association, Economic Science Association and the American Agricultural Economics Association.  

Honors for Hudson include serving as SAEA past-President, along with the Davis College Outstanding Researcher Award (2011); Texas Tech Undergraduate Student Association Outstanding Faculty (2009); AAEA Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher (2007); and the Mississippi State University Alumni Association Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher (2007).

Previous SAEA Lifetime Achievement Award winners from Texas Tech include Professor Emeritus Eduardo Segarra in 2017 and Don Ethridge in 2002. 

CONTACT: Phillip Johnson, chair and director of the Thornton Agricultural Finance Institute, Department of Agricultural & Applied Economics, Texas Tech University at (806) 834-0474 or phil.johnson@ttu.edu

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