Richard Crowder

CROWDER, Richard, Richard Thomas "Dickie" Crowder, age 84 of Baskerville, VA, died Thursday, May 30, 2024, in the Hundley Center, South Hill, VA. Mr. Crowder was an American government official and academic who served as Chief Agricultural Negotiator in the Office of the United States Trade Representative and Under Secretary of Agriculture for International Affairs and Commodity Programs. Crowder was born and raised in Southern Virginia. His father was a tenant farmer. He earned a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science from Virginia Tech and was commissioned through ROTC at Virginia Tech and served two years in the U.S. Army. After active duty he earned his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Oklahoma State University–Stillwater. He was a member of the boards of directors of Mendel Biotechnology, Inc. and Neogen. He was also a trustee of the Farm Foundation. Prior to entering public service, Crowder first worked for Exxon as a staff economist, then for Wilson, the Pillsbury Company, and Eckrich. Crowder served as the Under Secretary of Agriculture for International Affairs and Commodity Programs from 1989 to 1992 before becoming the Senior Vice President of DeKalb Genetics Corporation, then head of the American Seed Trade Association. He served as Chief Agricultural Negotiator as a U.S. Trade Representative with the rank of Ambassador from January 2006 to May 2007 in the Bush administration. In 2008, Crowder joined the agricultural economics faculty of Virginia Tech. In 2013, he was the recipient of the American Farm Bureau's Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award. Then he was appointed C.G. Thornhill Professor of Agricultural Trade at Virginia Tech. He was reappointed to the position in 2018. He is survived by his wife, Margaret Taylor Rainey Crowder, of Baskerville and Minneapolis, MN; two sons, Richard Morgan Crowder, of Denver, CO, and Matthew Blackwell Crowder, of Atlanta, GA; and his sister, Linda C. McClellan (Archie), of Baskerville, VA.

A funeral service will be conducted Sunday, June 2, 2024 at 1 p.m. in Shiloh United Methodist Church, Baskerville with interment to follow in the La Crosse Cemetery with American Legion Post 79 Military Honors. The family request memorial contributions be made to the Mecklenburg Co. Cancer Association, P. O. Box 311, Chase City, VA 23924. Online condolences may be through our website at www.crowderhitecrews.com Crowder-Hite-Crews Funeral Home is serving the Crowder family.