The Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics (ACE) honored Jonathan Coppess as the Leonard and Lila Gardner Illinois Farm Bureau Family of Companies Endowed Associate Professor in Agricultural Policy during an investiture ceremony at the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, on Sept. 14.

Coppess’ extensive experience in federal policymaking guides his research, public engagement, and teaching in agricultural policy and law. He leads the policy efforts for the farmdoc project, including weekly articles on policy for farmdoc daily. He also led development of the Gardner Agriculture Policy Program and the Gardner Policy Series, as well as web-based analytical tools for farm income and payment calculations. In 2018, he published The Fault Lines of Farm Policy: A Legislative and Political History of the Farm Bill.

In late 2020 and early 2021, Coppess was a volunteer for the Biden-Harris Presidential Transition. Throughout much of 2021, and while on a partial leave of absence, he served as a special counsel to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. For his efforts, he was awarded one of the 2022 Campus Awards for Excellence in Public Engagement.

Coppess graduated with a degree in business from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and earned a Juris Doctor from the George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining the U. of I. faculty, he served as the Chief Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Source: illinois.edu

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