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Edna Loehman (1943-)
I came to the Department of Agricultural Economics in February, 1981; it was cold and snowy as winters typically are here, but it did not affect my enthusiasm for being part of an important department. I came here from SRI, International, a consulting firm, and previously had been a young assistant professor for six years at University of Florida in agricultural economics. However, I had been to Purdue before: I received a masters degree in Mathematics in 1967 and my PhD in Economics in 1970, both from Purdue.
I developed and taught Applied Welfare Economics for quite a number of years. I particularly enjoyed interacting with the students on their applied policy projects. For this course, I also developed a novel teaching approach: computer programs to teach about price equilibrium and pricing for externalities and public goods. I initiated and taught a course in Mathematical Economics for a few years. Environmental Economics was another area of my teaching.
Initially, I participated and taught in the Center for Public Policy and Public Administration under Bob Whitford; unfortunately the center was abolished in 1985. I very much enjoyed this experience because the center had students interested in policy from all over the world. Following this experience and because of my own background in mathematics and science, I fostered interdisciplinary teaching at Purdue. Interdisciplinary courses I taught included Common Property Resource Management with William Hoover in Forestry, Water Resource Management co-taught with Indrajeet Chaubey from Agricultural & Biological Engineering, and a reading course on policy issues with George Horwich in Economics and Lee Raymond in Political Science.
In terms of honors, I was listed as one of the top 50 women economists in terms of citations for 1971-87 (in Ratings of Women Economists by Citations, Journal of Economics and Business, 1990). I received an NSF Career Advancement Award for 1994-95. Several of my students received American Agricultural Economics PhD dissertation awards. I was chairman (one of the first) for 1987-88 of the Committee of Women in Agricultural Economics.
I was very active in several cooperative regional research projects, including NE-165 (Private Strategies, Public Policies, and Food System Performance), NC-230 (Integrating biophysical functions of riparian systems with management practices and policies), and W-1190 (Interfacing technological, economic, and institutional principles for managing inter-sector mobilization of water).
Four important themes of my research have been: 1) measurement of non-market values; 2) cooperation and cost-sharing; 3) risk and insurance; 4) water pricing and management. I was one of pioneers of contingent valuation and conducted several environmental or public goods research applications.
I was one of the first to use cooperative game theory for cost sharing and later developed a pricing method for shared goods which I tested with experimental economics. I developed and applied an alternative to expected utility theory; I also developed theory for agricultural insurance when there is production risk. Most recently, I have developed a new method for water pricing that ensures cost recovery. I was fortunate to be able to publish articles in good journals about these subjects.
I published and wrote chapters for two edited books while at Purdue: Water Quantity/Quality Management and Conflict Resolution, 1995 (co-author Ariel Dinar), and Designing Institutions for Environmental and Resource Management, 1998 (co-author Marc Kilgour). Earlier in Florida, I edited Economics and Decision-making for Environmental Quality, 1974 (co-author J.Richard Connor).
In terms of service and community involvement, I served for many years on the University Compensation and Benefits Committee. I served for three years on a university-wide proposal review committee (Kinley Trust Selection Committee). I was an Associate for the Tippecanoe Soil and Water Conservation District, and also served on the Lafayette Groundwater Protection Committee. I have been a member of the Bach Chorale, the Lafayette Peace Coalition, the Sierra Club, and the Holocaust Remembrance Committee.
My daughter Rachel Loehman, and before her death my mother Gisela Tusak, encouraged and supported these endeavors.
I have particularly enjoyed interacting with the excellent graduate students in the department. My colleagues in the department are outstanding and much to be admired in their applications of policy analysis, a hallmark of the Purdue University Department of Agricultural Economics. I am sure that I will miss this experience as I go on to another stage of my life.
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