OJC Press Release ID: 2475

Monday, February 29, 2016

Dr. Walter “Mack” Myers to be inducted into the CSU DARE Hall of Fame

For the past three years, the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics (DARE) at Colorado State University has recognized some of its outstanding alumni by inducting them into the DARE Hall of Fame. Dr. Walter “Mack” Myers, Agricultural Business Management Faculty at Otero Junior College, was recently named as a 2016 inductee.

Dr. Myers is a native of Las Animas, where he grew up on a crop and livestock farm. He is a 1967 graduate in agricultural economics from CSU. After earning a Master of Science degree in 1969, Myers went to Oklahoma State University to pursue a PhD.

After completing his PhD in 1973, Myers started a distinguished career in agricultural commodity management. His employment included a stint as Vice-President of an economic consulting group in Westfield, N.J. This company was retained by major food manufacturers and retailers, The President’s Council of Economic Advisors, and the Congressional Budget Office in Washington D.C.

From there Myers became Vice President of Commodity Procurement for Swift and Company in Chicago, Ill. After Swift was sold in 1983, he was an independent commodity trader on the Chicago Board of Trade and Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

While still working as a commodity trader, Myers purchased a cow/calf operation near Pueblo, Colo. The operation expanded into a feedlot operation in Rocky Ford, which he continued to operate until his retirement in 2004. Since then, Myers has been an instructor in the Agricultural Business Management program at Otero Junior College.

Myers continues to leave a mark on everyone he touches. "Working with Mack (Dr. Myers) has been and will continue to be an excellent learning opportunity for myself as well as the students. I never leave a conversation with him without learning something new about agriculture. His love for agriculture, economics and students is amazing,” said Becky Gremillion, also a faculty member at OJC in the Agricultural Business Management program.

“This is a great tribute to a man who has dedicated his life to promoting Agriculture both in and out of the classroom. All of us at Otero Junior College and throughout southern Colorado are proud of the accomplishments of Mack and celebrate this much deserved recognition of a man whose name is synonymous with education and agriculture,” said Otero Junior College President Jim Rizzuto.

Dr. Myers will be honored on Friday, March 4 during a reception, dinner and ceremony to be held at the Lory Student Center Theater Ballroom on the CSU campus.

OJC Agricultural Business Management faculty member Dr. Walter “Mack” Myers will be honored for his accomplishments as he is inducted into the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics Hall of Fame at CSU in March.