Old School

Last week, my department head Sarah A. Low dropped this jewel of a picture off at my office. It was in some old files that were being cleaned out.

This is definitely a much younger version of me with LOTS more hair. The picture was taken sometime in 1993 or 1994 when I was on sabbatical leave from Ohio State at Illinois. Many people don’t realize that I spent 12 years on the ag econ faculty at Ohio State before coming to Illinois permanently in 1997. It also explains the Buckeye can cooler. And in case you are wondering, I am still an Ohio State football fan. Once infected, it is hard to kick.

That sabbatical leave turned out to be a critical turning point in my academic career. Wouldn’t you know that the person who had an adjacent office was none other than Darrel Good. Talk about good fortune. As they say, the rest is history. I was deeply influenced by a number of other people during my sabbatic, including Phil Garcia, Ray Leuthold, Paul Newbold, Jay Ritter, Bruce Sherrick, Sally Thompson, David L. Chicoine and Bob Hauser. In addition, I was able to have some great interactions with the legendary Tom Hieronymus, who was still very active at the time.

This week marks the start of my 28th year at the great University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. I am eternally grateful for the invitation to spend my sabbatic year at Illinois all those years ago. I could never have imagined the path it would put me on. Enough with the reminiscing, it’s time to get back to work. I have lectures to get ready for next week.

 

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