Dawn Thilmany
Dr. Dawn Thilmany is a Professor of Ag and Resource Economics with Colorado State University, serving in that role since 1997 and currently serves as the co-Director of CSU’s Regional Economic Development a Center shared by the VP of Research and CSU’s Office of Engagement and Extension. She was selected as the CSU Nutrien Distinguished Scholar in 2020. Dawn received her degrees at Iowa State University (BS, Public Service and Administration in Ag, 1990) and UC-Davis (MS and PhD Ag Econ, 1991 & 1994).
She specializes in regional economic development related to local, organic, entrepreneurs and food market supply chains, and more recently, has focused on developing engaged community development initiatives focused on rural Colorado and the Western US with support from the Economic Development Administration. An underlying theme of her research and Extension is the analysis and framing of alternatives related to the unique attributes, amenities and assets of places and how they may affect the market and policy dynamics that shape the environment and choices faced by household, farms, businesses and communities.
She has over 110 peer-reviewed publications and presented to over 500 academic, industry, community and policy audiences. She has secured over $5 million in funding with various partners and interdisciplinary teams, providing funding for research, but also community initiatives, student funding and pilot programs She focuses many of her projects on the mentoring of young professionals and has been an advisor or co-advisor for over 25 MS and PhD students and on the committee for over 90 students during her career. Her investments in young professionals are her greatest pride, and rewarded by all she has learned from those she has mentored and co-authored with throughout the years. At the undergraduate level, she has taught a dozen different offerings, been the advisor for student clubs and competitive teams and guided a number of undergraduate honors theses.
She serves on and formerly chaired the Colorado Food Systems Advisory Council and established and co-led the CSU Food Systems team through 2017, when she was appointed to the leadership team for CSU’s Community Development programming. She has collaborated with numerous Colorado state agencies and several USDA agencies including the ERS, AMS, NIFA and APHIS and served as a reviewer or panel manager for over a dozen USDA grant programs. She has served as President and led several organizations including the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, the Western Agricultural Economics Association and the Food Distribution Research Society. She represented the AAEA on USDA’s Advisory Board on Research, Extension, Education and Economics from 2012-18.