Heady, Earl O. (Earl Orel), 1916-1986

Agricultural economist; pioneer in development of large scale agricultural planning models; Professor of Economics at Iowa State University (1940-1983); first director of the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD); Iowa State alumnus (1945). Born in Chase County, Nebraska; married Marian Ruth Hoppert (1941). Received B.S. and M.S. degrees from University of Nebraska. Came to Iowa State as an instructor in 1940, earning his Ph. D. in 1945 and remaining on faculty and becoming full professor in 1949. Authored and co-authored 22 books and more than 750 journal articles and other papers. Published landmark scholarly work in the area of agricultural economics: Economics of agricultural production and resource use (1952). His books have been translated into numerous languages.

Named the first Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in Agriculture at ISU (1956); became first person to receive Henry A. Wallace Award for Distinguished Service to Agriculture (1978). Received four honorary degrees; honorary memberships include: Royal Swedish Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Science, and Soviet Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Heady was a Fellow of the American Agricultural Economics Association, Econometrics Society, American Statistical Association, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Under his direction (1958-1983), CARD became a premiere economic research institute with emphasis on the economics of agricultural production, resource use, and development. More than 300 graduate students, nearly half coming from outside the U.S., have studied under his guidance. Heady retired in 1983 and stayed in Ames, Iowa until his death in 1987.

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