AMES, Iowa – Four new faculty members will join the Department of Economics and the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development at Iowa State University later this month, with a fifth arriving in January 2027.
A search for a sixth faculty member will begin this fall, with a focus on candidates who have expertise in agricultural processing.
These faculty appointments reflect the university’s continued investment in the economics program and its commitment to excellence in research, extension and teaching. The new hires will have varying levels of Extension or outreach responsibilities to serve the state and stakeholders, in addition to teaching and research roles.
The new hires are:
- Rania Lachhab, assistant professor
- Sunghun Lim, associate professor of economics
- Edward Perry, associate professor and Albert Peterson and Iowa Institute for Cooperatives Endowed Chair in Economics
- Zach Raff, assistant professor
- Guang Tian, assistant professor
“We are very excited to have five such talented economists joining us at Iowa State,” said Peter Orazem, interim chair of the Department of Economics. “They will be adding to our long tradition of informing farmers and the citizens of Iowa about the current state of the agricultural economy and of the factors shaping rural incomes in the future.”
“These faculty members will help Iowa farmers, agribusinesses and rural communities navigate complex economic challenges, turning trusted, science-based insights into practical applications,” said Jason Henderson, vice president for extension and outreach and professor of economics at Iowa State. “Through ISU Extension and Outreach, their work will connect world-class research to the critical decisions that strengthen Iowa agriculture and rural communities.”
Rania Lachhab will serve as an assistant professor of economics with expertise in energy and water quality. She has a doctorate in agricultural, food and resource economics from Michigan State University and a master’s in agricultural management from the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Montpellier. She also earned a bachelor’s in agricultural engineering and a master’s in agricultural economics from the Institut Agronomique et Veterinaire Hassan II in Morocco.
Rania Lachhab
Lachhab has spent the past two years as a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Berkeley. During that same time, she has also been an affiliate with the Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.
At Iowa State, Lachhab will build upon the extension work she has done in California, in addition to teaching, conducting research and providing institutional service. Her research interests are in agricultural economics, environmental economics, applied econometrics and development economics.
At Iowa State, Lachhab will build upon the extension work she has done in California, in addition to teaching, conducting research and providing institutional service. Her research interests are in agricultural economics, environmental economics, applied econometrics and development economics.
Sunghun Lim
Sunghun Lim has been hired as an associate professor of economics with a focus on agricultural trade and policy. He has a doctorate in applied economics from the University of Minnesota. He earned a master’s in agricultural and resource economics and a bachelor’s in economics from UC Davis.
Lim comes to Iowa State having spent the past four years as an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness at Louisiana State University. There, he also served as director of the LSU Global Value Chains Research Program. Prior to his time at LSU, Lim was an assistant professor with Texas Tech University’s Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
At Iowa State, Lim’s primary responsibility will be research, with time also dedicated to teaching and extension and outreach. His extensive leadership background and experience interacting with the media will serve him well in his new role.
Edward Perry
Edward Perry joins the faculty as an associate professor of economics with a focus on cooperatives supply chain and finance. Returning to his alma mater, Perry earned his doctorate in economics from Iowa State in 2016. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics from St. Norbert College and a master’s in applied economics from Marquette University.
Perry most recently served as an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University. His research and teaching have spanned agricultural economics, industrial organization and resource economics.
He will also hold the title of Albert Peterson and Iowa Institute for Cooperatives Endowed Chair in Economics. As holder of this endowed position, he will provide extension expertise to help Iowa cooperatives navigate challenges such as market consolidation, rapid technological change and globalization — and help them scale operations and adapt business models to meet changing consumer preferences.
Zach Raff
Zach Raff will join Iowa State in January 2027 as an assistant professor of economics with a focus on livestock markets and management. Raff holds a doctorate and master’s degree in economics from the University of Kansas, a Master of Public Policy from American University and a bachelor’s in mathematics from Upper Iowa University.
Raff is an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at North Carolina State University, with a research focus on environmental regulation and the economic impacts of agricultural practices. Previously, he served as a research economist for the USDA Economic Research Service’s livestock group. He also spent seven years as a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
At Iowa State, Raff will draw on that experience, along with a focus on precision agriculture, to support the state’s livestock producers through extension.
Guang Tian
Guang Tian has been hired as an assistant professor in crop markets and management. Tian earned his doctorate in applied economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His educational background also includes a master’s in applied economics from the University of Idaho, a master’s in economics from the Central University of Finance and Economics in China, and a bachelor’s in finance from Hunan University in China.
Tian brings direct experience in grain market extension work from his time at UW-Madison, where he also provided outreach on farm operations and payment projections. At Iowa State, Tian will extend that work to Iowa farmers, offering insights for managing farm operations and navigating crop markets.
Contacts
Peter Orazem, Economics, 515-294-8656, pfo@iastate.edu
Alaina Friesleben, Agriculture and Natural Resources Communications, 515-294-5597, alainaf@iastate.edu
Whitney Baxter, Agriculture and Life Sciences Communications, 515-294-2314, wjsager@iastate.edu