Dyson Leads

Anne Byrne is a Research Agricultural Economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service. Dr. Byrne earned her Ph.D. from the Dyson School at Cornell in May of 2021, completing her dissertation on consumer use of food banks and pantries. Her current research focuses on food markets and food access, with a continuing interest in private food assistance. Dr. Byrne has published and presented widely on the topic and was recently invited to co-edit a special issue on private food assistance in high-income countries for the journal Food Policy, a premier publication in food economics and policy analysis.

Chris Barrett is the Stephen B. and Janice G. Ashley Professor of Applied Economics and Management and an international Professor of Agriculture at the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, as well as a professor in the Departments of Economics and of Global Development and a fellow of the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, all at Cornell University. He is co-editor-in-chief of the journal Food Policy, edits the Palgrave Macmillan book series “Agricultural Economics and Food Policy,” and co-edits the “Elsevier Handbook of Agricultural Economics,” Volumes 5 and 6. Professor Barrett has won several university, national, and international awards for teaching, research, and public outreach, and is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, and the African Association of Agricultural Economists.

Devry Boughner Vorwerk is the Founder and CEO of DevryBV Sustainable Strategies, a leader in integrated sustainability solutions for businesses of all sizes. She is a well-known global food executive and corporate officer, having served as Chief Communications Officer and Global Head of Corporate Affairs at Cargill and as Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Grubhub. She is also a sustainability entrepreneur serving on the Advisory Boards of Culinary Sciences, Inc. and Agrology.ag. Early in her career she worked for the World Bank Group, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and served as an industry analyst and White House appointed chief economist for the Chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission. Devry is a senior fellow at The Conference Board and a Member of the International Advisory Council of APCO Worldwide. Today, she enjoys life in Minnesota, where she lives with her husband and two children. In her spare time, Devry enjoys attending her children’s ice hockey games, is an elementary school track coach, and is an active member of her local church.

Miguel I. Gómez is the Robert G. Tobin Associate Professor in the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University. He is Director of the Food Industry Management Program, globally recognized as the premier food industry education and research program. Professor Gómez has an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Applied Economics from the University of Illinois.

Professor Gómez concentrates his research program on two interrelated areas under the umbrella of food marketing and distribution. The first is Food Value Chain Competitiveness and Sustainability. His work in this area involves multidisciplinary collaborations for the development models to assess supply chain performance in multiple dimensions, including economic, social, and environmental. The second is Food Value Chain Negotiation. Here, Professor Gómez combines theory and outreach methods to analyze food markets from farm to table, emphasizing key concepts such as demand response, consumer behavior, buyer/seller negotiations, market power, and retail performance. In addition, his research extends to economic development and environmental economics, examining incentives for and barriers to smallholder farmer participation in food value chains and sustainability of food systems, with emphasis in Latin America. Professor Gómez’s applied research efforts aim at enhancing market opportunities for fruit and vegetable products, benefiting producers, food processors/distributors, and consumers worldwide.

Professor Gómez’s work has been published in top journals, including Science, Management Science, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, World Development, and Food Policy. His research program has been funded with over 100 research grants, including the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Professor Gómez has won several prestigious teaching and research awards, including the Rising Star Faculty Award of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. He has consulted for multilateral development institutions such as the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and the Interamerican Development Bank.