Utah State University faculty member Morris D. Whitaker has received one of two 1992 Distinguished Service Awards from the Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development.
The award recognizes "individuals who have contributed to the goals and objectives of the association" and have made "innovative and significant contributions to the AIARD programs or other activities which support AIARD objectives, both international and domestic." Whitaker is professor of agricultural economics and director of the Office of International Programs and Studies at USU.He has served nationally as acting deputy director for food and agriculture for the U.S. Agency for International Development and as deputy executive director for the Board for International Food and Agriculture Development.
Whitaker has considerable consulting experience in 34 different assignments in 19 countries. He served on the President's Task Force to Ecuador in 1984, and Utah Gov. Norm Bangerter appointed him to the Trade Mission to Mexico in 1991.