INTERNATIONAL FOOD AND AGRIBUSINESS MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION |
Our Rising Stars The Rising Star Award is bestowed by the IFAMA Young Board and recognizes outstanding contributions of early career professionals, under the age of 35. |
Michelle earned a BAgEc degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Free State, South Africa and a Masters in Agribusiness from ISAM in Spain, where she graduated at the top of her class. After winning the Women’s Insight Deliberation Competition in March 2024, she was selected to serve an ambassador for women in Agriculture in South Africa. |
![]() Luis pursued his PhD in Agricultural Economics at Purdue University with specialization on International Trade and Environmental Economics. His dissertation focused on Climate Change interactions with food security, agriculture, livestock, and forestry. Luis is an expert in dairy economics, benefit-cost analysis, agribusiness, labor issues, environmental economics, financial management, mathematical optimization, and general equilibrium modeling. He is currently the chair of the International Section of the Agricultural and Applied Economic Association (AAEA). Luis has also received multiple awards such as 2022 Paul B and Robert Dykstra Faculty Excellence Award, EAERE Best Paper in Environmental and Resource Economics (2020), Outstanding Young Scholar Award (2017) by the FAMPS section of the AAEA, among many others. |
Professor Villacis is an applied microeconomist studying the social welfare implications of agriculture, with a particular interest in food value chains, food security, and behavioral economics. He has worked extensively in the Latin American region, including countries such as Honduras and Nicaragua. He has also conducted research with USAID in El Salvador and worked for the Department of Agriculture of Ecuador. Before joining W.P. Carey, he completed a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Applied Economics from Virginia Tech, and an M.Sc. in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University. He has also been a fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and at Innsbruck University. |