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Dr. Theodore R. Alter is
professor of agricultural, environmental and regional economics in Penn State’s
Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology. His research and teaching
focus on agricultural economics and policy, development economics, public
sector economics, community and regional economics, community and rural
development, rural policy, institutional and behavioral economics, resource
and environmental economics, leadership and organizational change, and the
scholarship of engagement in higher education.
Alter served as Penn State's
associate vice president for outreach, associate dean in the College of Agricultural Sciences, and director of
Penn State Cooperative Extension from July 1997 to August 2004. As director of extension, he provided
leadership for policy and educational programming, budget and finance, and
facilities and human resource management. He was also responsible for
government, industry, and constituent relations. Alter served on the
Executive Leadership Team of the Vice President for Outreach and assisted in
providing overall policy, program and administrative leadership for Penn State’s
outreach initiatives.
Before taking the position of associate
vice president, Alter served as regional director for Penn State Cooperative
Extension in southeast Pennsylvania
(1989–1994), head of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural
Sociology (1994–1996), and interim dean of the College of Agricultural
Sciences (1996–1997).
Alter
joined Penn State in 1976 as assistant professor
of agricultural economics, was named associate professor in 1982, and
professor in 1989. During sabbatical leave in 1986-87, he conducted a
comparative analysis of local public finance and management issues for rural
areas of the United States
and Europe. He served as adviser and analyst
for the Rural Public Management Project of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris,
France from
1987 to 1989. He was appointed
visiting professor at University College Dublin (UCD) from July through
December 2005, and studied rural policy in the European Union and Ireland
while on sabbatical at UCD.
Alter
received the American Agricultural Economics Association distinguished
extension program award in 1985, and was selected for the first class of the
National Extension Leadership Development Program in 1991–1992. He is a
member of Gamma Sigma Delta, the national agricultural honor society, and
Epsilon Sigma Phi, the national extension fraternity. In 2003, Alter was
recognized by the Penn State Alpha Omicron Chapter of Epsilon Sigma Phi with
the State Award for Visionary Leadership.
He served on the board of directors of the Extension National
Diversity Center
starting in 2004, and was board chair from January 2005 through August 2006;
the board of directors of The Rodale Institute, from 2004 through 2007; and
the Pennsylvania Rural Development Council, from 1996 through 2007. He serves currently on the board of
directors of The Pennsylvania Rural Partners and the Center for Rural
Pennsylvania, the rural policy research arm of the Pennsylvania General
Assembly, and on the Pennsylvania Governor’s Advisory Council on Rural
Development. Alter is a member of the
editorial board and book review editor for the Journal of Higher Education
Outreach and Engagement, and also serves on the editorial board of the
Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship. Recently, Alter was
appointed as Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board for Keenan, one of
Europe’s largest machinery and nutrition businesses. Alter also serves on the Barack Obama for
President 2008 Pennsylvania Rural Leadership Team and the Obama National Agriculture
and Rural America Committee.
A native
of Sylvania, Ohio,
Alter earned a bachelor's degree in economics with distinction from the University of Rochester. He received both his
master's degree and doctorate in resource economics and policy from Michigan State University,
where he also was a National Defense Education Act Fellow.
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Areas of Expertise:
Public Scholarship in Higher Education, Public Sector Economics,
Development and Regional Economics, Institutional and Behavioral Economics,
Community Development and, Comparative Rural Development Policy.
Degrees Earned:
Ph.D. in Resource Economics and
Policy from Michigan
State University
M.S. in Resource Economics and Policy
from Michigan
State University
B.A. with Distinction in Economics from
the University
of Rochester
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