Ray A. Goldberg

Ray A. Goldberg

George M. Moffett Professor of Agriculture and Business, Emeritus

George M. Moffett Professor of Agriculture and Business, Emeritus

A native of North Dakota, Dr. Goldberg received his A.B. from Harvard University in 1948, his MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1950 and his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Minnesota in 1952. 

Together with John H. Davis he developed the Agribusiness Program at Harvard Business School in 1955. From 1970 to 1997 he was the Moffett Professor of Agriculture and Business and head of the Agribusiness Program. Since July 1, 1997, as emeritus professor, he has chaired the Agribusiness Senior Management Seminars at Harvard Business School and currently teaches a course on Food Policy and Agribusiness at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and also taught a junior tutorial seminar on Climate and Its Impact on the Global Food System at Harvard College. He is also an Honorary Professor and a member of the Royal Agricultural College at Cirencester, England. He is coordinator of the Joint Business, Scientific, Public Policy, Consumer Policy Technology Committee of the U.S. Food System (PAPSAC) which meets annually at Harvard University.He received the Distinguished Service Award from Harvard Business School in June 2001.
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Ray A. Goldberg
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A native of North Dakota, Dr. Goldberg received his A.B. from Harvard University in 1948, his MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1950 and his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Minnesota in 1952.

Together with John H. Davis he developed the Agribusiness Program at Harvard Business School in 1955. From 1970 to 1997 he was the Moffett Professor of Agriculture and Business and head of the Agribusiness Program. Since July 1, 1997, as emeritus professor, he has chaired the Agribusiness Senior Management Seminars at Harvard Business School and taught a course on Food Policy and Agribusiness at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and also taught a junior tutorial seminar on Climate and Its Impact on the Global Food System at Harvard College. He is also an Honorary Professor and a member of the Royal Agricultural College at Cirencester, England. He is coordinator of the Joint Business, Scientific, Public Policy, Consumer Policy Technology Committee of the U.S. Food System (PAPSAC) which meets annually at Harvard University.He received the Distinguished Service Award from Harvard Business School in June 2001.

Dr. Goldberg is the author, co-author and or editor of 23 books and over 110 articles on positioning firms and institutions in the global value added food system. He also has authored and supervised the development of hundreds of case studies on various private, public, and farm cooperative firms and institutions in the global food system. His most recent publications involve developing strategies for private, public, and cooperative managers as they position their firms, institutions, and government agencies in a rapidly changing global food system. He is also conducting research on the major biological, logistical, packaging and informational revolutions that affect global agribusiness managers as they attempt to cope with the volatile restructuring of major commodity systems.

Dr. Goldberg has served on over 40 Boards of Directors of major agribusiness firms, farm cooperatives, and technology firms. He has advised financial institutions on their agribusiness investments such as Rabobank, John Hancock and Agriculture Technology Partners. He is one of the founders and first President of the International Agribusiness Management Association and  is a lifetime board advisor and consultant to numerous government agencies and private firms. He is an Overseer Emeritus of the Beth Israel Medical Center. He served as a member of the Science Advisory Board of the IFT/FDA Research Contract, and was Chairman of the Advisory Panel for a World Bank Guide to developing Agricultural Markets and Agro-Enterprises. He was Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Social Development in a Global Context of the Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources of the National Research Council. He was Chairman of the Task Force to Utilize Tobacco Funds for Economic Development for the State of Kentucky. He was Co-Director of the European Food and Agribusiness Seminar that took place in Rome, Italy October 2015.

Dr. Goldberg was a member of the Presidential Mission to Poland in December of 1989. He was a member and speaker at the U.S. Department of Agriculture 2020 Vision: Beyond Reorganization Senior Policy Retreat in May of 1994. He is Chairman of the Russian Food Management Program Research Project and Seminar sponsored by the international Agribusiness Management Association. He most recent articles are entitled the 'Business of Agriceuticals' published in Nature Biotechnology, Volume 17 Supplement 1999; 'Transforming Life, Transforming Business: The Life-Science Revolution,' co-authored with Juan Enriquez and published in the Harvard Business Review, March-April 2000; and 'Food Wars: A Potential Peace' published in the Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics Supplement to Volume 28 No. 4 Selected Proceedings of 'Genes and Society: Impact of New Technologies on Law, Medicine, and Policy, May 10-12, 2000' pages 39-45 Winter 2000:and Biotechnology and the Agricultural Industry of the Future published in the Conference Proceedings of the Eight Annual Conference of the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research(ECSSR) Abu Dhabi U.A.E. August 2003.  He is currently working on a history of the Agribusiness Program at Harvard Business School.

He was made a Fellow of the International Agribusiness Management Association in 2004. In July of 2005 he became a Fellow of the American Agricultural Economic Association.  His wife Thelma Englander died on March 14, 2015 and he has three children and six grandchildren and six great grandchildren.


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New Technologies and the Future of Food and Nutrition
Ray A. Goldberg has been investigating the impact of new technologies on, and the functioning of, the global agribusiness system in the twenty-first century. He is currently developing a seminar to bring scientists, business leaders, academics, and consumer advocates together to devise ways to better inform consumers about the safety and improved nutritional value of new food products. Goldberg headed a project that developed a training program for Russian farmers. He is completing a book on the global food revolution, and an accompanying agribusiness management textbook.
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