Dr. McDowell is an institutional economist with 25 plus years
of work in rural community development including extended international
stays (1-2 years) in Vietnam, Kenya, Malaysia, UK, Zambia and
Albania. His major academic assignment has always been in extension/outreach
and scholarship has reflected that assignment with major emphasis
on local public policy since most rural community development
initiatives are local.
Dr. McDowell is a Canadian born U.S. citizen educated in the
University of Rhode Island (B.S. Agriculture, 1963) Cornell
University (M.S. Agronomy, 1963) and Michigan State University
(Ph.D. Agricultural Economics, 1975). He was a professor at
the University of Massachusetts from 1975-1987 and has been a
professor at Virginia Tech since 1987.
