John Crespi, professor, has been named the interim director of the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD).
Crespi became interim director of the center effective Aug. 16, and will serve for one year. He joined the faculty at Iowa State in 2015.
Dermot Hayes, a professor of economics and finance, served as CARD’s interim director from June to August, succeeding Catherine Kling, who served as director from 2013 to 2018. Kling left Iowa State for a position at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
Crespi is an agricultural economist who works in the areas of food marketing and business competitiveness. Some of his recent work has examined livestock contracts how they impact the way firms interact and whether the cattle industry will move towards the higher levels of contracting seen in hog and poultry procurement.
He also has researched issues related to how people react to food labels and is part of the ISU Brain Initiative, a team of faculty and staff dedicated to the acceleration of brain research.
Crespi’s teaching duties include undergraduate classes on agribusiness finance and food markets.