2017 Alumni and Service Awards
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Agricultural Economics awarded the late Clayton Yeutter and Jay Rempe with the 2017 Outstanding Alumni Awards. The Nebraska Bankers Association received the 2017 Outstanding Service Award.Outstanding Alumni Awards: Clayton Yeutter and Jay Rempe
Clayton Yeutter earned his doctorate in agricultural economics in 1966. During his decades-long career, he held several cabinet and sub-cabinet level positions. He led negotiations of a U.S. Canada Free Trade Agreement and helped launch the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations, which led to the establishment of the World Trade Organization. As secretary of agriculture, he was instrumental in the passage of the 1990 farm bill. Yeutter was also the president and chief executive officer of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. In 2015, he made a leadership gift toward the establishment of the Clayton Yeutter Institute of International Trade and Finance. Clayton returned to the University of Nebraska many times during his career to guest lecture and to present seminars.Jay Rempe received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Department of Agricultural Economics. He is currently the senior economist at the Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation. Prior to his current role, Rempe was the vice president of government relations. His service to the University of Nebraska includes membership on Department of Agricultural Economics advisory board and the University of Nebraska Water Research Advisory Panel and as a member of several search committees. He is currently working with the department and the Department of Biological Systems Engineering to develop the inaugural Agricultural Economics and Technology Summit, scheduled for this June in Kearney.