Jean Kinsey
Professor Emerita, University of Minnesota. Ph.D. 1976
Jean Kinsey is a Professor Emerita in the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota, where she served on the faculty from 1976-2010. She is also the Director Emerita of The Food Industry Center where she served as Director/co-director 1995-2010. She received a Ph.D. from the University of California at Davis in 1976, where she learned the value of good research and writing in building a career for herself and her students. UC-Davis imparted a confidence to pursue leading edge topics and projects. At Davis she was privileged to work with Dr. Sylvia Lane, one of the first women scholars in agricultural and applied economics and a mentor extraordinaire. Dr. Lane’s firm but gentle guidance into professional academic activities laid the foundation for her career.
Research in consumer demand, consumer welfare and food industry performance have been at the core of her work. One of her missions was to convince colleagues to view agriculture (farming) as part of the larger food system with demand driving changes along the supply chain.
Dr. Kinsey has been president and is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Council on Consumer Interests and of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association. She has served on the Board of Trustees of the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington D.C. and the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. In 2009 St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN conferred an Alumni Achievement Award on her. Recently, she was on the Institute of Medicine National Academies committee that produced the report A Framework for Assessing the Effects of the Food System. She currently serves on the Board of Managers of PJM in Philadelphia and the Food Safety Council for ConAgra Foods. In 2014 she was elected president of the University of Minnesota’s Retirees Association.
Select Awards and Accolades
Fellowship from The National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy, Resources for the Future, Washington D.C.
President and Board, American Council on Consumer Interests
Foundation Board, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association
Executive Board, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association
President, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association
Director on the Board of Directors, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Honorable Mention for "Quality of Communication Award" by the AAEA for the book, Food Trends and the Changing Consumer
Distinguished Fellow of the American Council on Consumer Interests
Fellow, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association
Member, expert panel of Institute of Medicine under the National Academies
Alumni Achievement Award from St. Olaf College
Weblinks and More Information
Jean Kinsey ~ University of Minnesota