Dixie Watts Dalton Earns Recognition for Distinguished Graduate Teaching in Agricultural and Applied Economics

Dixie Watts Dalton, professor of practice in the department of agricultural and applied economics at Virginia Tech, has been awarded the Distinguished Teaching Award for faculty with over 10 years of graduate teaching experience from the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

In 1993, Dr. Dalton began her career with Virginia Tech as an assistant professor and extension specialist, focusing her efforts on undergraduate education and extension programming for tobacco economics and agribusiness marketing. She left her position as an associate professor with Virginia Tech in 2010 to join the faculty at Southside Virginia Community College, where she led the college’s agribusiness program. Five years later, she was promoted to dean of humanities, social sciences, and business.

Dr. Dalton returned to Virginia Tech in 2021 to assume her current position as director of the Center for Economic Education and coordinator of the agribusiness concentration for the online master’s degree in agricultural and life sciences program. She currently teaches several graduate level courses on agribusiness marketing, management, and policy. Additionally, she is president of Colonial Agricultural Education, an organization that funds over 80 scholarships annually.

A native of Lunenburg, Virginia, Professor Dalton received her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in agricultural economics from Virginia Tech. She holds a Ph.D. in economics from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.