Gordon Rausser

Professor Rausser has been honored with 46 distinguished research and teaching awards, including the Publication of Enduring Quality Award, numerous Research Discovery Awards, and several accolades for Best Journal Articles. He has received other significant honors from sources outside of his professional economic associations, namely the American Antitrust Institute Award (2014), the Secretary of Agriculture USDA for outstanding service award (2000), the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service Award for outstanding accomplishments in agricultural public policy research and formulation (2000), and the Superior Unit Citation Award from the U.S. State Department (1990). He was honored by AAEA in 2020 for exceptional intellectual leadership and mentoring of leading scholars by establishing a permanent keynote address in his name at the annual meetings. In 2025, he was unanimously selected by the AAEA to present the association’s most coveted Galbraith keynote address at their annual meeting titled “The Curation of Smart Governments –A Personal Journey.” 

Professor Rausser’s editorial leadership is notable, having served as editor for the Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, and Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control. He is the founding and ongoing editor of the Annual Review of Resource Economics (2006–present) and co-editor of four influential volumes of the Handbook of Agricultural Economics. 

Professor Rausser was elected as a fellow of the American Agricultural Economics Association (AAEA, 1990), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS, 1993), and the American Statistical Association (ASA, 1991). Additionally, he held a Fulbright fellowship (1987). 

Throughout his tenure at UC Berkeley, Professor Rausser demonstrated transformative leadership. He spearheaded the restructuring of the Economics Department on the Berkeley campus in 1988, served three terms as Chair of the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, and was Dean of the College of Natural Resources for two influential terms (1994–2000). Under his leadership, the pioneering Berkeley-Novartis Agreement (1997), the first campus-based public-private research and development partnership, was established, becoming a model for subsequent collaborations across research universities nationwide. He was honored in 2020 by the permanent naming of the Rausser College of Natural Resources, UC Berkeley, for his philanthropic contributions. Post retirement, he continued to provide extensive leadership at UC Berkeley, co-chairing the 2020-2024 Berkeley philanthropic campaign and serving as a Berkeley Fellow. He also chaired two faculty steering committees to lead a wide variety of stakeholders in developing a consensus to shape the development and strategic vision for the Berkeley Space Center. For these and other contributions, he received the Emeriti of the Year Award from the UC Berkeley Emeriti Association for the year 2025. 

Professor Rausser’s non-academic accomplishments include serving in leadership positions on the Boards of Directors of more than 20 private companies, notably as Chairman in five cases, including a nonprofit K-8 school. He has also held trustee roles at Palo Alto University (1999–2018) and Central European University (2023–present). 

In government, Professor Rausser served as Senior Economist at the President’s Council of Economic Advisors (1986-1987) and Chief Economist at the U.S. State Department (1988-1990). He was also the President of the Institute of Policy Reform in Washington D.C. (1990-1994). These appointments provided key insights that led to his career culminating work: “The Curation of Smart Governments.” _

Professor Rausser’s distinguished career was celebrated through the Festschrift symposium held in his honor in 2019, convening leading global economists to discuss critical issues central to his research. For additional details regarding Gordon Rausser’s extensive academic leadership and contributions, please refer to an edited volume published in his honor, “Modern Agricultural and Resource Economics and Policy: Essays in Honor of Gordon Rausser.”