Prof. em. Dr. Peter Rieder

Peter Rieder was Full Professor of Agricultural Economics at ETH Zurich from 1980 to 2005. His main research topics include both macroeconomic aspects in the agricultural sector and national and international agricultural markets and politics. From 1993 to 1997 he was president of the Swiss Center for International Agriculture at the ETH Zurich, from 1997 he was the head of the polyproject "Primary Production in the Alpine Regions". He retired end of March 2005.

Prof. Rieder was born on March 23, 1940 in Vals GR, Switzerland. After completing Swiss comprehensive exams, he studied agricultural economics at the ETH Zurich. Thereafter, he worked three years at the Institute for Economic Science at the University of Zurich and another three years in the Department for Operations Research at 'FIDES Treuhandvereinigung', Zurich. In the following ten years, he served as lecturer and postdoctoral fellow at the ETH Zurich. In 1968 he received his doctorate. In 1973 he established his habilitation. From 1973 to 1974 he was visiting professor at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan.

Complementary studies in econometrics and operations research extended his theoretical background to analyze specific agro-economic problems. On behalf of the Swiss Development Agency, he visited a number of developing countries (e.g. Peru, Sri Lanka, Honduras, China and Bhutan). Together with his collaborators, he conducted several studies for the offices of the Swiss Federal Government and also for different cantons and private organisations. In particular, he took an active part in the preparation of the Swiss position within the Uruguay Round Agreement of the GATT.