Helen H. Jensen

Helen H. Jensen is Professor Emerita of Economics at Iowa State University. She has focused her research on the economics of food and nutrition policies and programs, food demand and markets, food security, and the economics of food safety and hazard control, and built her work on strong, interdisciplinary collaborations. For over 30 years she led food and nutrition policy research in the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) where she applied economic theory to problems related to food and nutrition policies including evaluations of the costs and cost-effectiveness of dietary and food safety interventions and policies, and guided the studies of over 50 graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. She was elected Fellow of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) in 2012, presented AAEA’s 2002 Waugh Memorial Lecture, and previously served on AAEA’s Board of Directors. She has served on several committees of the National Academy of Medicine appointed to incorporate new scientific recommendations on diet and nutrition into USDA’s major food programs, and other committees of the National Research Council. Dr. Jensen holds a B.A. in economics from Carleton College, M.S. from the University of Minnesota and a Ph.D. in agricultural economics from the University of Wisconsin.

Charter Members
Derek Baker; John Beghin; Sean Cash; Julie Caswell; Di Fang; Amelia Finaret; Ellen Goddard; Carola Grebitus; Craig Gundersen; Arne Hallam; Drew Hanks; Dermot Hayes; Ariun Ishdorj; Stanley Johnson; Kristin Kiesel; Robert King; Jean Kinsey; Brent Kreider; Jing Liang; William Meyers; Mary Muth; Miyoung Oh; Susan Offutt; Jutta Roosen; Victoria Salin; Scott Swinton; Dawn Thilmany; Patrick Westhoff; Parke Wilde; Chen Zhen; David Ziberman