This is an interview of Leon Garoyan, Ph.D. Specialist in Cooperative Extension,
Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics, who died on March 26, 2022 at age 96.
Dr. Garoyan grew up in Fowler, CA, near Fresno. He attended Fresno State and
then Cal Poly graduating with a B.S. degree in horticulture in 1944. His first
job was as a farm advisor in Oregon. Soon, it became apparent to him that
additional skills in economics were needed. Consequently, he furthered his
training in economics at the University of Wisconsin, earning a Ph.D. in
economics in 1960. At the start of his career, he served in the
Kennedy Administration as a staff economist in the US Department of
Agriculture.
He
then returned to Oregon and continued working in extension. He moved to Davis
in 1970 with an appointment as an extensionist in Agricultural and Resource
Sciences. At Davis, he wrote and advised extensively in several areas of
marketing, particularly about the role of cooperatives and independent
individual farming-related and commodity activities. He was also very active in
The Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics. He retired in 1983.
Moreover, he worked and consulted with
many farming-related cooperatives in the U.S., Chile, several Eastern European
countries, and the Republic of Armenia. His Eastern European activities also
involved service as a consultant for the CIA on the food production and
marketing systems in Eastern Europe and Russia before Perestroika. Finally, at
Davis, his work culminated in serving as the founding director of the Statewide
Center for Cooperatives, located at UC Davis. This activity was initiated
following his retirement from Agriculture and Environmental economics. He
served as director for five years.
Leon Garoyan ws interviewed by his colleague and friend, Richard Howitt, Professor Emeritus,
Agricultural and Resource Economics.
Name: Leon Garoyan
Interviewer: Richard Howitt
Date Interviewed: 5/13/2010
Date Appointed: 1970
Date Retired: 1983
Department: ARE/ Coop/Ext.
