Kota Minegishi

Kota Minegishi(opens in new window), who graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2007 with a BA in Economics and a BS in Mathematics, is assistant professor of Dairy Production Decision Analytics at the University of Minnesota(opens in new window) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He received the Department’s highest recognition, the Smale Award for Outstanding Achievement in Economics. Kota was a tutor in the Economics Department and in the Math Department. He was also a summer orientation peer advisor for 2 years.

After graduation Kota entered the University of Maryland(opens in new window) where he received his Ph.D. in Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics(opens in new window) in 2014. During the same time period he also worked as a consultant for the World Bank Group(opens in new window). In 2015 he joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota(opens in new window) where he teaches and researches production economics and agricultural economics. “I'm an applied economist by training. I studied dairy operations in Maryland for my dissertation research. I will be collaborating with animal scientists and economists and I will be making decision-support tools for dairy producers in Minnesota.”

Graduates often contact Professor Eckalbar to express their gratitude for his excellent instruction. In an email dated 10/06/14, an economics graduate wrote, “My name is Kota Minegishi, one of your students seven years ago. I owe you so much to be accepted to a PhD program in University of Maryland, from which I finally graduated this summer. …”I received my diploma in mail today and finally decided to thank you. I am glad to see that you are still teaching at Chico State.” (Last Updated 12/14/19)