USDA economic research administrator to speak at SC State on Wednesday

ORANGEBURG, S.C. – Dr. Spiro Stefanou, administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Economic Research Service, will speak to South Carolina State University students and faculty members at noon Wednesday, Sept. 25, in Belcher Hall’s fourth-floor auditorium.

Stefanou’s appearance is part of the SC State College of Business and Information Systems’ (CBIS) weekly Executive Speaker Series. The public is invited.

He will share with SC State’s students and faculty members his vast knowledge and experience in firms’ decisions to adopt effective technology and their capabilities to extract the maximum potential from the technology. He also will discuss his investigations addressing investment and innovation patterns, firm learning, and capacity utilization.

CBIS Dean Matthew Guah said he looks forward to the engagement between the USDA executive and SC State professors and students undertaking research funded by USDA.

Stefanou provides leadership and guidance for the USDA agency’s research, analytical, and technical operations.

He also holds a part-time appointment as a professor in the Business Economics Group at Wageningen University (Netherlands). His over 40 years of international experience includes his time as an economics professor at the Food and Resource Economics Department at the University of Florida. Before joining the University of Florida, Stefanou was a professor of agricultural economics at Penn State University.

Stefanou received his Ph.D. in agricultural economics from the University of California, Davis, his Master of Science in agricultural and resource economics from the University of Maryland, and a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology from George Washington University.

About the CBIS Executive Speaker Series

The series brings to the SC State campus a broad mix of business professionals from across the U.S., including international staff from multinational companies. It also provides business students networking opportunities and lessons in thought leadership.

Students from all majors gather in Belcher Hall fourth-floor auditorium with high expectations to gain new contacts while learning valuable insights from industry experts, including some of our nation's most successful business leaders.