Harlan Agribusiness Professor Emeritus, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Ron Hanson currently serves as the Harlan Agribusiness Professor Emeritus at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Hanson’s 46-year career teaching agribusiness and advising college students earned 31university and national award recognitions. He was selected as the Outstanding Ag College Instructor, received the John Deere Agribusiness Teaching Award of Excellence, and was named as the University Educator of the Year. Hanson was the first University of Nebraska professor to receive the prestigious USDA Excellence in University Teaching Award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture which is the top-ranking national teaching honor granted in the area of agricultural and food sciences. His highest career honor was earned by being named the Nebraska Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation. Ron was raised on an Illinois family farm and earned his college degrees from the University of Illinois. He has counseled with Nebraska farm families for more than 40 years to help them resolve family conflicts in a more positive manner and to improve family relations through better communications. His most recent efforts have been directed at farm business ownership succession and the transfer of management control between generations. He has been awarded the highest recognitions of the Nebraska Agricultural Leadership Council, the Nebraska Farm Bureau and the Nebraska FFA Foundation for his dedicated commitment and service to helping both rural youth and farm families. Through his publications and professional travels, Ron is recognized as a keynote program speaker on the topic of farm ownership succession planning and the transition of management control to the next generation of family farmers.