Jean-Paul Chavas is one of the world's foremost agricultural economists; a scholar whose pioneering research in a broad spectrum of fields is the clear sign of a creative and transcendent intellect; a scholar known for a steady flow of publications that evidence dedication, commitment, hard work, and brilliance; a scholar whose classroom performance, willingness to help others, and collaborative work with numerous students and colleagues manifest a profound sense of service to graduate students and to the scientific community as a whole.

Born in France in 1951, Jean-Paul Chavas was reared on a small family farm. After studying agriculture in France, he received a MS degree (1976) and a Ph.D. degree (1978) in agricultural economics from the University of Missouri. His Ph.D. dissertation received honors as Outstanding Ph.D. Dissertation from the AAEA in 1979. Chavas has held the positions of assistant professor of agricultural economics at Texas A&M University (1979-82), and associate professor (1982-86) and full professor (1986 to present) of agricultural economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He served as an associate editor of the AJAE from 1987 to 1991.

Since receiving his Ph.D., Chavas has published on average 5.5 articles per year in major journals, writing on such diverse topics as chaos theory and nonlinear dynamics, econometric methods, nonparametric analysis, welfare analysis under uncertainty, demand and supply estimation, decision making under risk, farm and food policy, environmental and welfare economics, economic development, and agricultural marketing. Although he has made significant contributions in many areas, reflecting the remarkable scope of his research interests, his most path-breaking works are in the areas of decision making under risk, the dynamic nature of agricultural markets, and nonparametric testing of production and consumption behavior.

Chavas's theoretical contributions in the area of risk are numerous. His research contributed to the development of welfare measures for risk-averse firms. It shed new light on the effects of expected prices, risk, and wealth terms in agricultural production and market systems.

Chavas's work on the role of dynamics in agricultural markets has made him a leader in this field. His 1986 AJAE paper (with Klemme) revolutionized the estimation of livestock supply equations by explicitly introducing animal population dynamics. Through several recent AJAE papers (with Holt), Chavas has become an effective pioneer in the investigation of the role of chaos and nonlinear dynamics in agricultural markets.

In recent years Chavas has made major contributions to the emerging literature that seeks to test economic structure without the constraint of parametric assumptions. His research in this area has produced a steady stream of high-quality publications in major journals. His 1992 AJAE article (with Cox) used nonparametric methods to investigate the effect of research on productivity over time. This article received the Best Journal Article Award from the AAEA in 1993.

Chavas continues to make influential contributions to other areas of agricultural economics as well. To illustrate briefly, a 1994 AJAE article sheds new light on the problem of investment decisions under sunk cost and intertemporal uncertainty. Another example is his 1993 AJAE article on issues pertaining to sustainability and economic survival.

After joining the Department of Agricultural Economics at Wisconsin, Chavas developed a sequence of courses that now forms the core of its Ph.D. program. On two occasions, in 1983 and 1988, he received an award for excellence in teaching from the Taylor-Hibbard Club, a departmental graduate student organization. Three theses completed under his direction have received awards from the AAEA.

In summary, Jean-Paul Chavas's contributions to the literature in agricultural economics and economics will continue to elevate the rigor and relevance of the scientific work in many areas of our discipline for years to come. His creativity, dedication, commitment, and service to others truly mark him as a scholar for all seasons.