The department helps graduate students prepare for employment. Funding is provided to attend conferences where students have opportunities to present their research and job market paper. Students also have opportunities to present their research in in-house departmental seminars.
There are many job opportunities. These include academic jobs as an assistant professor, or non-academic jobs including Government, and non-governmental organizations like consulting or private sector. Students have gone into many different areas. Recent PhD graduates have accepted academic position in the U.S. and international universities, government positions and data scientist positions in the private sector. Recent M.S. students have accepted positions in the government, the private sector, and continuing education. You can look at our past placements and our current candidates on our website to learn more about their placements.
Dr. Richard Woodward is the graduate placement coordinator for the Department of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University.
Ph.D. Job Placements
2023-2024
Shahin Bahramiabdolmalaki, Post Doc, Texas A&M University
Advisor: Rodolfo Nayga and Mani Rad
Yayun Chen, Postdoctoral Researcher, Texas A&M University
Advisor: James Mjelde and Bruce McCarl
Muxi Cheng, Analyst, American Airlines
Advisor: Bruce McCarl and Chengcheng Fei
Hannah Hawkins, Analyst, Advanced Economic Solutions
Advisor: Senarath Dharmasena
Nan Li, Fellow at School of Business, Wake Forest University
Advisor: Yu Ahang
Macson Ogieriakhi, Instructional Assistant Professor, University of Arkansas
Advisor: Richard Woodward
Faith Parum, Economist, Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection
Advisor: Senarath Dharmasena
Phatchaya Piriyathanasak, Research Analyst, Welligence Energy Analytics
Advisor: Bruce McCarl
Xingguo Wang, AgriLife Research Assistant Professor, Texas A&M AGEC – Ft. Worth
Advisors: Henry Bryant and Pourya Valizadeh
Jeffrey Wright, Assistant Professor, San Angelo- District Extension Specialist
Advisor: John R. Robinson
Sydney Beamon, Capital Farm Credit
Advisor: Claude Rosson
William Hussey, Insurance Agent – Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Capital Farm Credit
Advisor: Edward Rister
Natalie Graff, Research Assistant Professor- Texas A&M University
Advisor :Joe Outlaw
Amelia Ahles, Post Doc Research Fellow, Division of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources Oklahoma State University
Advisor: Marco Palma
2022-2023
Mark Dinhobl, Research Data Scientist, USDA
Advisor: James Mjelde
Hyung Ho “Ben” Park, Research Fellow, Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI)
Advisor: Bruce McCarl
Siwan Song, Research Associate and Lecturer, University of Wisconsin – Madison
Advisor: Ariun Ishdor
Natalia Valdez-Gonzalez, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Barcelona
Advisor: Marco Palma
Anna Yeritysan, Postdoc Researcher/Armenia Project Coordinator, Texas A&M University Department of Veterinary Medicine
Advisor: James MJelde
Tian Su, Economist, Texas Real Estate Center, Texas A&M University
Advisor: David Leatham
Joshua Strine – PhD student – Purdue University
Advisor: Oral Capps
2021-2022
Yabin Da, Assistant Professor – AGEC, Renmin University, China
Advisor: Bruce McCarl
Xiaoyang Deng, Analytic Scientist, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company
Advisor: Bruce McCarl
Jennifer Young Kee, Research Ag Economist, USDA Economic Research Service
Advisor: Marco Palma
Clifford Dale Shelton, Economist, AgAmerica Lending
Advisor: Richard Woodward
Chrystol Thomas-Winston, Instructional Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University
Advisor: Ximing Wu
Wang, Ying, Research Assoc, Dept of Ag, Food and Resource Economics, Michigan State University
Advisor: Richard Woodward
2020-2021
Michael Black, Federal Economist, U.S. Food & Drug Administration
Advisor: Richard Woodward
Daniel Chavez,Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Kentucky
Advisor: James Mjelde
Long Goa, Postdoctoral Associate, Texas Tech University
Advisor: Oral Capps
Yu-Kai Huang, Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Georgia
Advisor: Marco Palma, Bruce McCarl
Samir Huseynov, Assistant Professor, Auburn University
Advisor: Marco Palma
Keehyun Lee, Postdoc Scholar, University of Kentucky
Advisor: Oral Capps
Sunyoung Lee,Assistant Professor, Hanyang University, South Korea
Advisor: Yu Zhang
Pulkit Marwah,Associate Manager of Strategy, The Wonderful Company
Advisor: Yu Zhang
Nishita Sinha, Assistant Research Scientist, Texas A&M Transportation Institute
Advisor: Richard Woodward, Luis Ribera
Lizhihan Yu, Data Scientist, Nationwide Insurance
Advisor: Bruce McCarl
Peilu Zhang, Postdoctoral Associate, Cornell University
Advisor: Marco Palma
Ze Shen,Assistant Professor, Zhejiang Gong Shang University, China
Advisor: David Leatham
2019-2020
Panit Arunanondchai, Senior Data Analyst, Hulu
Advisor: David Leatham
Yuri Calil, Assistant Professor, Federal University of Itajuba
Advisor: Luis Ribera
Chen Gao, Data Scientist, Facebook Inc. (Meta)
Advisor: David Leatham
Meng Jiang, Data Scientist, Nationwide Insurance Company
Advisor: Ariun Ishdorj
Charles Martinez, Assistant Professor, University of Tennessee
Advisor: John Park
Aurora Vargas, Quantitative Analyst Consultant, Model T Racing (MTR), LLC
Advisor: Bruce McCarl
Minglu Wang, Associate Professor, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics
Advisor: Bruce McCarl
Xiaotong Yuan, Modeling Analyst, The Cincinnati Insurance Company
Advisor: Yu Zhang
2018-2019
Jesse Donald Backstrom, Assistant Professor, Texas State University
Advisor: Richard Woodward
Justin Reynaldo Benavidez, Economic Extension Specialist-Amarillo, Texas A&M University
Advisor: David Anderson
Guo “Chris” Cheng, Staff Econometrician, StataCorp, LLC
Advisor: Oral Capps, Jr.
Seungyeon Cho, Research Fellow, Korea Rural Economic Institute
Advisor: Ariun Ishdorj
Chengcheng Fei, Assistant Professor, Texas A&M
Advisor: Bruce McCarl
Alexander Neal Hlavinka, Analyst, Vantage CFO
Advisor: James Mjelde
Ju Won Jang, Assistant Professor, Nichols College Massachusetts
Advisor: Ariun Ishdorj
Yuan-Yao Lee, Economist, RTI Internationals
Advisor: Bruce McCarl
Anastasia Thayer, Research Associate, TAMU
Advisor: Bruce McCarl
Wenbin Wu, Applied Scientist, Uber
Advisor: Ximing Wu
Guannan Zhao, Data Scientist, Warner Music Group
Advisor: Bruce McCarl
2017-2018
Xinxin Fan, Analyst, Wood-Mackenzie Coal Consulting firm in Houston
Advisor: Bruce McCarl
Erin Hardin, Research Economist, Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University
Advisor: Henry Bryant
Bachir Mohamad Kassas, Assistant Professor, Florida State University
Advisor: Marco Palma
Michelle Segovia Coronel, Assistant Professor, University of Missouri
Advisor: Marco Palma
Yinjunjie Zhang, Post-Doctorate, Austrailian National University
Advisor: Marco Palma
Song Zhou, Analyst, Regional Financial Service Group in Atlanta
Advisor: Ximing Wu and Yu Zhang
Zidong Wang, Analyst, Alibaba, Shanghai
Advisor: Bruce McCarl
Master’s Job Placement
2023-2024
Alexis Ghormley, PhD Student Fall 2024, Texas A&M University
Advisor: Bart Fischer
William Hussey, Insurance Agent, Texas Farm Bureau Insurance
Advisor: M.E. Rister
2022-2023
Amit Bapu Ahire, Ministry of India
Advisor: Bruce McCarl
Yooyoung Ahn, Korean Government
Advisor: Victoria Salin
Ashton Betchan, Credit Analyst, Classic Bank, Cameron
Advisor: Senerath Dharmasena
Joshua Buercklin, Regulatory Analyst, Tyson Foods, Fayetteville AR
Advisor: David Anderson
Tyler Evans, Community Assistant, The Michaels Organization
Advisor: Dmitry Vedenov
Connor Neumann, Field Representative, Farm Bureau
Advisor: John Park,
Ian Ryan, Senior Livestock Economist, Government of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Advisor: Henry Bryant
Joshua Strine, Ph.D Student, Purdue University
Advisor: Oral Capps
Micah Trull, Loan Admin Associate, Central Texas Farm Credit
Advisor: David Anderson
Helen Wakefield, Agricultural Economist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service
Advisor: Joe Outlaw
2021-2022
Bembya Bembeev, Analyst, Comcast
Advisor: David Anderson
Shane Bentke, Relationship Manager Associate, Capital Farm Credit
Advisor: David Anderson
Margaret Denena, Development Supervisor, Mustang Cat
Advisor: David Anderson
Harlea Hoelscher, Staff Assistant, House Committee on Agriculture Republicans
Advisor: Joe Outlaw
Colton Russell, Research Associate, Corteva
Advisor: Joe Outlaw
Allison Wilton, Economic Policy & Global Analysis Coordinator, National Milk Producers Federation
Advisor: Joe Outlaw
2020-2021
Justin Machado, Director of Finance and Operations, Groundforce Building Systems
Advisor: James Mjelde
Kate Wright, Analyst Econ Forecasting, CPS Energy
Advisor: Luis Ribera
Landyn Young, Program Coordinator, Center for North American Studies
Advisor: Luis Ribera
Mingjia Zhang, Research Assistant, CoronaNet Research Group
Advisor: David Leatham
2019-2020
Olalekan Gbenga Faromiki, Certified Associate, Salesforce
Advisor: Edwin Price
Natalie Adele Graff, AGEC PhD Program, Texas A&M
Henry Bryant
Henry Rogne Nelson, AGEC PhD Program,
Advisor: Joe Outlaw
Micah Joel Newton, Loan Officer, Texas Heritage National Bank
Advisor: Joe Outlaw
Brannick Sweetser, Policy Analyst, AgriLogic Consulting, LLC
Advisor: David Leatham
2018-2019
Taylre Beaty, State Broadband Director, Tennessee Department of Economic and Community & Develop
Advisor: Rebekka Dudensing
Stephen Hartman Cain, Director, Economic Research & Analysis, National Milk Producers Federation Advisor: Senarath Dharamasena
Christopher L. Lindsey, Financial Soulutions Advisor, Merrill and Bank of America
Advisor: Reid Stevens
Jorge Carlos Martinez Palomares, PhD – Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Missouri Advisor: Reid Stevens
Levin Wade Porter, Ranch Manager, Hope Reins in Texas
Advisor: David Anderson
Jae Hyeong Yu, Director, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (South Korea)
Advisor: Gary W. Williams
Brad Weldman, Agricultural Policy Consultant, Combest, Sell & Associates
Advisor: Joe Outlaw
Kaiqi Zhao, Agribusiness and Chain Consultant, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Advisor: Yu Zhang
2017-2018
Elizabeth Tabares (Villarreal), Project Coordinator Bourlag Institute
Advisor: Ariun Ishdorj
Katelyn Keller, Lead Sales, Purchasing & Operations Analyst – Ben E. Keith Foods
Advisor: Senerath Dharmasena
Chandler Keown, Farm Loan Manager – USDA Farm Service Agency
Advisor: Mark Welch
Brent Tymrak, Self Employed – Farmer – Grain, Sorghum, Cotton – Corpus Christi, Tx
Advisor: David Anderson
Elizabeth Tabares – Project Coordinator – Borlaug Institute – Texas A&M University
Advisor: Ariun Ishdorj