The dissertation of AEDE PhD graduate, Dr. Muhammad Imran Chaudhry, received an honorable mention from the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association’s (AAEA) Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award. Dr. Imran credited his success to the scholarly excellence and dedication of his dissertation committee.
“I am especially indebted to my adviser Professor Miranda who encouraged me to pursue theoretical research, provided invaluable insights along the way and literally chaperoned me through the PhD program,” says Imran.
Imran’s dissertation, titled “Essays on agricultural and financial markets in Pakistan” is comprised of interdisciplinary research broadly related to the fields of economic development and agricultural economics. Speaking about his dissertation Imran said “the interdisciplinary research culture at AEDE allowed me the freedom to examine diverse issues without worrying about whether an appropriate faculty member was available to guide me. Because at the end of the day, I knew faculty at AEDE held expertise across a variety of disciplines including finance, economic modeling and numerical analysis.”
Imran heaped praise on the collegial environment at AEDE by saying that the congeniality of faculty members really helped him deal with the anxiety of being an international student. In particular, support he received from the department during visas issues was quite remarkable.
“I hope I can continue to build on these achievements and maintain a strong connection with my alma matter in future whilst pursuing research on issues pertinent to Pakistan," says Imran.