Phillips Named ABM/AgSCI Chair

Professor Jon Phillips

Professor Jon Phillips was named as the new chair of the Department of Agribusiness & Food Industry Management/Agricultural Science.

A Cal Poly Pomona faculty member for 15 years, Phillips takes over from Professor Valerie Mellano, who had served as the interim chair in addition to her duties as plant science department chair.

“Professor Phillips is an experienced faculty member with industry contacts and excellent university service. He brings a strong knowledge of policy and a caring temperament,” said Professor Lisa Kessler, interim dean of the Huntley College of Agriculture. “The college looks forward to his leadership.”

Phillips has taught most of the classes in the agribusiness and food industry management program and has advised a number of graduate students. He is active in seeking grants and contracts. Two notable projects he worked on involved training National Guard members who were being deployed to develop the agribusiness sector of Afghanistan.

 “I am pleased and humbled to be named chair of the agribusiness and food industry management/agricultural science department. We have some talented students and distinguished faculty. I look forward to working with everybody to move the department forward,” said Phillips. “In particular, I’d like to meet with industry leaders to find out about their needs.”

He has made more than 50 research presentations at regional, national, and international conferences. Phillips has been published in the Journal of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, the Journal of Food Distribution Research, the International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, and the International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology. 

He earned his doctorate in agricultural economics from Michigan State University and also has master’s degrees in business administration and economics.

Phillips is a member of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, the Food Distribution Research Society, the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, the Kiwifruit Administrative Committee, the National Agri-Marketing Association, and the Western Agricultural Economics Association.

The Department of Agribusiness & Food Industry Management/Agricultural Science has more than 240 students, three professors, and six lecturers.

The agribusiness and food industry management major prepares students to become leaders in the management, marketing, and production of all agricultural products.

The agricultural science major prepares students for any general agricultural career. Students can earn either single-subject or agricultural specialist credentials and become teachers.

The department also offers minors in agribusiness and food industry management and international agricultural business management.

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