York Lecturer Series

For many years, Ruttan's research has focused on agricultural technology generation and its effect on development. After serving on the governmental relations and economics staff of the Tennessee Valley Authority, he joined the staff of the President's Council of Economic Advisors in 1961. Between 1963 and 1965, he was an agricultural economist with the Rockefeller Foundation at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. From 1973 to 1978, he was president of the Agricultural Development Council.

Ruttan also served on a number of advisory committees and boards, including the Research Advisory Committee of the U.S. Agency for International Development (1968-1973 and 1980-1986), the Technical Advisory Committee to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (1973-1978), Board of Directors of the International Service for National Agricultural Research (1980-1986), the Board on Agriculture (1982-1989), the Board on Global Change (1990-1996) and the Board on Sustainable Development (1997-present) of the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council. Ruttan was president of the American Agricultural Economics Association in 1971-72.

His new book, Technology, Growth and Development: An Induced Innovation Perspective, Oxford University Press, was published earlier this year. Another new book, Social Science Knowledge and Economic Development, will be published by the University of Minnesota press in 2002.

Ruttan's book with Yujiro Hayami, Agricultural Development: An International Perspective, published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 1971 and 1985, has become a basic reference in the field of agricultural development.

He also is the author of Agricultural Research Policy, University of Minnesota Press, 1982; Agriculture, Environment and Health: Sustainable Development in the 21st Century, University of Minnesota Press, 1994; and U.S. Development Assistance Policy: The Domestic Policy of Foreign Economic Aid, Johns Hopkins Press, 1996.

Ruttan has been recognized by the American Agricultural Economics Association (AAEA) with six awards for published research. He was elected as a Fellow of AAEA in 1974, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1976 and the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1986. In 1990, he was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences.

Ruttan holds honorary degrees from Rutgers University, Christian Albrechts University of Kiel and Purdue University. He received the Alexander von Humboldt Award for outstanding contributions to agriculture in 1984 and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Distinguished Service Award in 1986.

Ruttan attended Michigan State University and completed his bachelor's degree at Yale University. He earned his master's and doctoral degrees at the University of Chicago.