William A. Masters

Biography 

Dr. William A. Masters is a Professor of Food Policy and Economics at the Friedman School, advancing the fields of food economics and global food systems. His projects on Food Prices for Nutrition and the cost and affordability of healthy diets introduced new metrics of food access worldwide. He coauthored the open-access textbook on Food Economics: Agriculture, Nutrition and Health (Palgrave Macmillan 2024), and directs global collaborations through the Agriculture, Nutrition and Health Academy, as well as a large project on Data Analytics for Food Markets in Africa. Dr. Masters is an elected Fellow of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA), an Excellence in Nutrition Fellow of the American Society for Nutrition (FASN), and a recipient of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture’s Borgstrom Prize for Global Food Security.

Education

• Ph.D., 1991, Food Research Institute, Stanford University
• M.A., 1986, Food Research Institute, Stanford University
• B.A., 1984, Economics and Political Science, Yale University/Deep Springs College

Specializations

Agriculture, Food, and Environment; Food Systems Modeling;  Food Policy, Programs, and Economics

Research Activities

• Director (PI), Food Prices for Nutrition
• Director (PI), Data Analytics for Food Markets in Africa
• Director (PI), ANH Academy Science-Policy Platform