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Staff

Brent Hueth, Director

Brent Hueth is the Director of the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His teaching focuses on cooperative organizations, agricultural markets, and applied microeconomics.

Brent is currently leading research projects on cooperative governance, behavior, and performance, and on the economic impact of cooperatives on the U.S. economy. Other recent research topics have included incentive pay for CEOs in cooperative firms; cooperative conversions, failures and restructurings; and the role of the cooperative bargaining association. His research has been published by the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, and the Journal of Regulatory Economics, among others.

After receiving his Ph.D. in Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics from the University of Maryland-College Park, Brent spent two years at the University of California-Berkeley as a Research Economist. He was an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at Iowa State University for eight years prior to joining the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Contact info: University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives
230 Taylor Hall, 427 Lorch Street
Madison WI 53706-1503
ph 608.890-0924
fax 608.262.3251
hueth@wisc.edu


Anne Reynolds, Assistant Director

Anne Reynolds is a Faculty Associate and Assistant Director of the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives. She teaches a course on cooperatives (AAE 323), and develops courses, conferences and educational programs at the Center.  She has led numerous workshops on board leadership, board roles and responsibilities, and strategic planning.

Anne teaches a course on cooperatives, Agriculture & Applied Economics 323. The syllabus is here.

Anne is currently researching cooperative governance, behavior and performance, as part of the Center’s Cooperative Business Study. Her areas of interest include governance, member loyalty, business structure and innovative uses of the cooperative model. She has worked with cooperatives in all sectors, including agriculture, food, energy, purchasing and worker-owned. Anne serves on several boards, including The Cooperative Foundation. Before joining the Center for Cooperatives, she worked at the Credit Union National Association (CUNA).

Contact info: University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives
235 Taylor Hall, 427 Lorch Street
Madison, WI 53706-1503
ph 608.263.4775
fax 608.262.3251
atreynol@wisc.edu


Lynn Pitman, Outreach Specialist

Lynn Pitman is an outreach specialist at the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives, providing resources and assistance to individuals and groups working on cooperative projects and issues. She also writes and develops educational, program and communication materials to support the Center's outreach activities, including the Center's website.  Lynn contributes to the Center’s ongoing research on cooperative economic impacts.  

Lynn has served on several cooperative boards, including a new grocery co-op start-up effort, and is engaged in neighborhood planning and development issues. She currently serves on the board of the Association of Cooperative Educators.  Prior to joining the Center, she was the catalog marketing director at several growing entrepreneurial firms.

Contact info: University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives
234 Taylor Hall, 427 Lorch Street
Madison, WI 53706-1503
ph 608.261-1355
fax 608.262.3251
pitman@wisc.edu


Courtney Berner, Outreach Specialist

Courtney Berner is an outreach specialist at the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives where she provides various types of technical assistance and counsel to existing cooperatives and to groups interested in pursuing cooperative business activities. Courtney has policy, research, and outreach experience in a range of issues related to food systems, environmental sustainability, community economic development, and the cooperative business model. Prior to graduate school, she spent five years at the Worldwatch Institute, an environmental think tank in Washington, DC, where she worked in communications and development. She holds an M.S. in agroecology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a B.A. from Pacific Lutheran University where she majored in biology, French, and environmental studies. Courtney originally hails from Oregon but is proud to be living in America's Dairyland.

Contact info: University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives
220 Taylor Hall, 427 Lorch Street
Madison, WI 53706-1503
ph 608.890-0966
fax 608.262.3251
cberner@wisc.edu


Michael Chronister, Research Program Manager

Michael Chronister is a Research Program Manager with the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives. He is currently responsible for managing the Cooperative Business Study, which will generate important new insights regarding the means to effective governance in cooperatives. Michael oversees the day-to-day operations of this study, monitors interviewer progress and provides quality control. Prior to working for the Center for Cooperatives, Michael held many roles at the UW Survey Center from 2002-2010.  Michael is a graduate of UW-Madison with a bachelors degree in Geography.

Contact info: University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives
225 Taylor Hall, 427 Lorch Street
Madison, WI 53706-1503
ph 608.262-3382
fax 608.262.3251
mjchroni@wisc.edu


Tom Flory, Database Administrator

Tom Flory is the database administrator for the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives, developing the Center's research and administrative databases and database access software and the Center's websites. He has a PhD in Geography from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before joining the Center he was the Director of the UW's Social Science Computing Cooperative and a Systems Engineer for a major software company.

Contact info: University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives
229 Taylor Hall, 427 Lorch Street
Madison, WI 53706-1503
ph 608.262-5905
fax 608.262.3251
tflory@wisc.edu