William B. Lacy

William B. Lacy is an American sociologist and academic administrator whose research focuses on science policy, agricultural research and extension, biotechnology, and biodiversity. He is Professor Emeritus of Human Ecology and Vice Provost Emeritus for University Outreach and International Programs at the University of California, Davis.

He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and former president of Rural Sociological Society, the Agriculture, Food and Human Values Association and the Association of International Education Administrators.

Education Lacy earned a Bachelor of Science degree in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University in 1964. He went on to receive a master's degree in higher education administration from Colgate University in 1965.

Career Before joining UC Davis, Lacy held senior academic and administrative positions at Cornell University, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Kentucky and Colgate University.

From 1994 to 1998, he served as Director of Cornell Cooperative Extension and Associate Dean in both the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Human Ecology. He also was the Director of Upper-class Housing on the Dean of Students staff at Colgate University from 1967 to 1969. Lacy played a key role in establishing the New Initiatives/Seed Grant Program, which distributed over $1.5 million in internal funding and leveraged more than $30 million in external grants.

He also oversaw the UC Davis Education Abroad Center and championed programs that significantly increased student participation in international education. and the Association of International Education Administrators (2010–2011).

He participated in a number of national commissions and committees, among them the Commission on International Initiatives of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, the Commission for Internationalization and Global Engagement of the American Council on Education, and the Budget Committee of the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, which he chaired from 1996 to 1998.

In 2021, he received The Richard B Haynes Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award in Sustainable Agriculture, Agriculture and Human Values.

He is also received The Fred Buttel Outstanding Scholarly Achievement Award, Rural Sociological Society in 2013. He received the annual Award for Excellence in Research from Rural Sociological Society in 1990. In 2014, he received The Timothy J. Rutenber Award in recognition of outstanding and dedicated service from Association of International Education Administrators. and extension systems, science policy, biotechnology, biodiversity, and the democratization of food systems.

His early work explored the organization of agricultural scientific enterprises, including their transition under pressures of globalization and commercialization.

A prominent area of his scholarship addresses the implications of biotechnology in agriculture,

His publications have examined how large agribusiness corporations influence scientific agendas and policy, often marginalizing public interest concerns.

In his more recent work, Lacy has turned attention to local food systems, food sovereignty, and the role of citizen and public science in achieving equitable and sustainable food futures.

He argues that centralized, industrial food systems are inefficient, environmentally damaging, and socially inequitable. Instead he promotes the revitalization of community-based food systems that prioritize local control, democratic participation, and ecological stewardship.

His research has been cited in interdisciplinary fields, and he has authored or co-authored more than eighty journal articles and book chapters, as well as several books, including Science, Agriculture and the Politics of Research and Plants, Power and Profit.

His article, "Local Food Systems, Citizen and Public Science, Empowered Communities, and Democracy" (2023), provides a comprehensive review of the challenges and opportunities facing global food systems, serving as a call for systemic transformation through inclusive science and policy.

Lacy's work has been supported by major institutions, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Ford Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and the University of California.

Selected publications

Books and Journals