Somogyi brings agribusiness expertise to Department of Agricultural Economics

As the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Agricultural Economics Dr. Kerry Litzenberg Sales and Economic Endowed Chair and director of the Weston Agrifood Sales Program. Simon Somogyi, Ph.D., has an abundance of agribusiness marketing and sales experiences to share with students, colleagues and collaborators.

Along with marketing and sales experience, Somogyi has researched agrifood e-commerce sales, including direct-to-consumer sales and business-to-business sales through smart and virtual forms of digital retailing.

He earned his doctorate in agribusiness marketing from the University of Adelaide, where he examined the impact of communication on business-to-business relationships and sales in the Australian wine industry.

“We are glad to have someone of Simon’s depth of experience in the field of agribusiness sales and distribution management,” said department head Rudy Nayga, Ph.D. “He has expertise not only in agribusiness sales, agribusiness value chain management and retail, but also distribution management and agribusiness case study development. This breadth of experience made him the right person for the Litzenberg endowed chair and to lead the Weston program.”

Somogyi has authored for or contributed to some of Canada’s top agribusiness industry publications along with creating the Arrell Food Business and Technology Forum. He is currently a board member on companies involved in food sales and distribution management, and has consulted with the Canadian and Australian governments and Global Fortune 500 companies on agribusiness management issues, including providing testimony to the Senate of Canada.

“I believe my experience with strategic planning and academic administration, which has included supervising faculty and professional staff, managing budgets, and working with alumni and donors, will benefit Texas A&M’s Department of Agricultural Economics,” Somogyi said.

The Litzenberg Endowed Chair

The chair position honors Kerry Litzenberg, Ph.D., a Regents Professor and Minnie Stevens Piper Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics who died in 2022. The popular professor was considered the “founder and father” of what is now the Weston Agrifood Sales Program.

The chairholder and director participates directly in teaching and mentoring and leads curriculum and policy development for the Weston program. The program partners with industry leaders to develop ethical sales professionals, deliver high-impact experiential learning opportunities and advanced training focused primarily on business-to-business sales and expanding to business-to-consumer sales. It is the only sales minor offered at Texas A&M.

“The Weston Agrifood Sales Program is positioned to become an international leader in sales education for students, corporate partners and industry professionals in agriculture and other fields,” Nayga said. “We need to ensure the sales curriculum is current, informed by scholarship and makes a positive contribution to the sales profession and industry stakeholders.”

Responsibilities of the Litzenberg Chair

Nayga said chairholder expectations include the ability to demonstrate a path for developing an impactful research program on the theories, methods and practices broadly related to sales.

The research may emerge from diverse fields, including agricultural economics, business, managerial economics, behavioral sciences or other related disciplines, he said. The chairholder will also work with a large and broad faculty base and have opportunities to collaborate in areas as varied as agribusiness, marketing, finance, quantitative methods, behavioral economics, environmental economics, entrepreneurship and personal finance.

“Dr. Somogyi’s professional and academic experience, as well as his dedication to the concept of providing students with both theoretical and hands-on transformative learning they can apply in businesses, will bring a new dimension to the Weston Agrifood Sales Program and greatly benefit students,” Nayga said.

Applying agribusiness expertise to better prepare students 

Somogyi said one of his main goals as Litzenberg Chair and Weston program director is to expand offerings in the Weston program, including professional and executive training, study abroad and international opportunities for students and to develop an industry advisory board for the program.

“I believe this will better equip our students for the rapidly evolving industry landscape,” he said. “By exposing our students to different cultures and approaches to food sales and distribution management, we can help them become more well-rounded professionals.”

Somogyi said he is also committed to furthering the role strategic industry partnerships play in the program.

“By forging partnerships with leading companies, we can ensure that our curriculum stays up to date and that our students are prepared to hit the ground running after graduation.”