Dr. David Kohl received his MS and Ph.D. degrees in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University. For 25 years, Dr. Kohl was Professor of Agricultural Finance and Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia. He was on special leave with the Royal Bank of Canada working on advanced initiatives for two years, and also assisted in the launch of the successful entrepreneurship program at Cornell University. Dr. Kohl is Professor Emeritus in the Agricultural and Applied Economics Department at Virginia Tech.

Dr. Kohl has conducted more than 6,000 workshops and seminars for agricultural groups such as bankers, Farm Credit, FSA, and regulators, as well as producer and agribusiness groups. He has published four books and over 1,500 articles on financial and business-related topics in journals, extension, and other popular publications. Dr. Kohl regularly writes for Corn and Soybean Digest, and other ag-lending publications.

Dr. Kohl is a two-time recipient of the prestigious American Agricultural Economics Association’s Outstanding Teaching Award. He is one of only five professors in the nearly 100-year history of the association to receive the award twice. He received the Governor’s award for his distinguished service to Virginia agriculture, the youngest recipient to receive this award. Dr. Kohl was recognized as one of 30 leaders who are the brains behind innovative business management and economic information that agriculture uses today. He also has been named one of seven economists and bankers who challenge the status quo. In 2017, Kohl was inducted into the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Hall of Fame.

Dr. Kohl has addressed the American Bankers Agricultural Conference for more than 35 consecutive years, and has appeared before numerous state bankers’ schools and conferences throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the world. He has also been one of the top rated instructors at the Graduate School of Banking at LSU and GSBC, and is Chancellor of Farm Credit University, which has trained over 700 lenders using an online and face-to-face educational approach. In 2016, he received the James C. Scarboro Memorial Award from GSBC for his dedication to banker education.