Dr. John Foltz retired from the Ohio State University in January, 2023. He had previously been Interim Associate Director of the Farm Financial Management and Policy Institute, in the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Science at the Ohio State University (OSU). From 2017-21, he served as Chair of the Department of Animal Sciences at OSU.
Prior to his service at Ohio State he served as Special Assistant to the President for Agricultural Initiatives at the University of Idaho and had previously served as Dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences for 4 years and as Associate Dean for Academic Programs for 8 years.
Before becoming Associate Dean, Dr. Foltz served as a Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology for 12 years, with an area of expertise in Agribusiness Management. He taught courses in the department’s agribusiness curriculum, which included a capstone class for graduating seniors, an agribusiness sales class, and a course on agricultural cooperatives. Other classes he taught included introductory agricultural economics and upper-level agribusiness management classes. He is an award-winning teacher andadvisor, having received his College’s Outstanding Advising award, and the University of Idaho award for teaching excellence. He was an 11-time recipient of the University of Idaho’s Faculty Excellence Award, chosen by award recipient students as their most influential faculty member.
His research areas have included looking at Country-of-Origin labeling (COOL) in the beef industry and the economics and capabilities of back to the farm traceback technology as well as exploring the feasibility of carbon credit marketing by Idaho dairies. Other studies investigated the demand for consultants by Idaho dairy and potato farmers; research on consumer perceptions of trout as a food item; the impact of the wine industry in Idaho; and teaching research involving class attendance and student performance, building the industry institution interface and the use of case studies in the classroom. He is a co-author of the 2016 textbook “Agribusiness Management,” published by Routledge.
Foltz’s international experience includes working in Russia in the area of agribusiness management and distance education, a ½ year sabbatical to New Zealand researching COOL in the beef industry, lecturing in an executive MBA program in Peru, and serving as the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences’ representative to Taiwan accompanying former Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne as part of a trade mission, and then returning to Taiwan to accompany students on several short-term study abroad trips. He has also done consulting with numerous Pacific Northwest agribusiness firms and has served as an expert witness in a number of court cases. Foltz co-writes a bi-monthly management column, entitled “Manager’s Notebook,” for the nationally distributed magazine Feed and Grain. He is a member of the Farm Foundation Agribusiness Roundtable whose membership includes CEOS and top executives in “Fortune 500” companies serving American agriculture and agribusiness; he is also a member of the Farm Foundation Board of Directors.
Foltz has been a volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America for over 20 years, receiving their Silver Beaver Award in 2004. He enjoys music, and sang for a number of years with the Palouse Harmony Chorus a chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society in Idaho; as an undergraduate student he sang in the Ohio State University Men’s Glee Club. He collects model trains and has displayed them annually during the Christmas holidays in a display known as “Foltzville.”
Professor Foltz received his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Agricultural Economics from the Ohio State University. Upon graduation, he worked for six years as a district manager for Ralston Purina in Ohio and Pennsylvania marketing livestock feed and animal health products. Subsequently, he received his Ph.D. in agricultural economics from Purdue University.
As an undergraduate student, Foltz was a member of Alpha Zeta Fraternity at the Ohio State University. That agricultural fraternity is now a chapter of FarmHouse Fraternity, and Dr. Foltz serves on FarmHouse’s International Executive Board, which provides oversight and guidance to the fraternity’s 34 chapters located at universities across the United States. Both of Dr. Foltz’s sons were members of FarmHouse fraternity at their respective universities.
Foltz is married to the former Barbara Haffner. They met at Ohio State, where Barbara received her Bachelors degree in Family Relations and Child Development. John and Barbara were married in 1980 and have two sons: John Richard (born 1982) and James Clark (born 1985). John received his B.S. in Fisheries from the Ohio State University in 2006, and his M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Washington State University in 2009. He is married to the former Jessica Maxwell from Moscow, Idaho. James received his B.S. in Exercise Science from the University of Idaho in 2009 and his M.S. in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia University in 2013. He is married to the former Michelle Blair from Mission Viejo, California.
