David Zilberman

David Zilberman holds the Robinson Chair in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, contributing to the field of Agricultural and Veterinary Science. He has been a professor there since 1979, recently transitioning to Distinguished Professor of the Graduate School effective January 2026. Zilberman received his B.A. in Economics and Statistics from Tel Aviv University and Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from UC Berkeley in 1979. He served as Department Chair from 1994 to 1999, President of the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) in 2018-19, Faculty Director of the Master of Development Practice, and co-director of the Beahrs Environmental Leadership Program. As a consultant, he has advised the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, USDA, World Bank, FAO, MARS, BP, and others.

His research specializations include agricultural and nutritional policy, economics of technological change, natural resources, micro-economic theory, water policy, innovation, supply chains, agriculture, energy, and the environment. Specific areas encompass adoption of irrigation technologies and water markets in California, economics of pesticide regulation, political economy of agricultural biotechnology, bioeconomy design, biofuels and alternative crops, and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Zilberman has authored or co-authored over 400 refereed journal articles—from Science to ARE-Update—edited 30 books, with key publications such as "Adoption of agricultural innovations in developing countries: A survey" (1985), "The choices of irrigation technologies in California" (1985), "Review of environmental, economic and policy aspects of biofuels" (2007), and "The global value of water in agriculture" (2020). Major awards include the 2019 Wolf Prize in Agriculture, election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (2019), Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2025), and fellow of AAEA, AERE, EAERE. His influence extends to shaping bioeconomy, biotechnology, water economics, and policy on climate change, food security, and innovation; he has mentored nearly 70 Ph.D. students, contributed to editorial boards, committees, and public lectures.