The College of Agriculture has announced the selection of Deacue Fields to the chair position of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, effective Aug. 16.
Fields, who joined the Auburn faculty in 2002, replaces outgoing chair and fellow agricultural economics professor Curtis Jolly, who has served in the position since 2005.
"I am excited about becoming the chair for the department," Fields said. "I am looking forward to the new challenges and seeing what can be done differently."
In addition to managing the department budget and working more closely with the state's agricultural community, Fields says one of his biggest responsibilities will be helping the department create an identity.
"I want to think in a business mind-set and ask, 'What is (the department's) comparative advantage?'" Fields said. "We want to look at other ag econ departments across the Southeast and the entire country and find out what gives Auburn an advantage."
Fields also points out the opportunities the department has in helping out the state's poorer regions. Fields said some of the most poverty-stricken counties in the country are found in Alabama, and Fields identifies those areas as targets for the department.
"We now have a World Hunger Center and a Food Systems Institute here at Auburn," Fields said. "Those are two things I want to see this department plug into more and figure out where we can fit in. We need to take advantage of where we are."
Fields cited a lifelong passion for agriculture and rural areas as reasons why he wants to be involved in leadership positions such as department chair. He spoke about operating his family's cattle herd as a teenager and the legacy of his grandfather, who raised a family full of future college graduates on his farm in Louisiana.
"I grew up in it," Fields said. "I showed cattle when I was a kid. My dad was an ag teacher for six years before going to work for the USDA. There are so many life experiences that have kept me in ag econ."
Fields earned his bachelor's degree in agricultural economics from Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., in 1993. He completed his master's degree at the University of Missouri in 1995 and worked as an assistant professor with Florida A&M University's small farms program for three years. Before coming to Auburn, Fields returned to Baton Rouge to complete his doctorate, this time at Louisiana State University.
"All my degrees are in ag econ, and a lot of people think that's all I know," Fields said with a chuckle. "I like the business side of this field and the connection to the agricultural community."
Fields's current role as professor includes extensive work in both the classroom and in research. His research at Auburn has focused on working with the horticulture department on consumer food preferences, and he currently teaches senior and graduate-level courses in agribusiness management.
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