Meet Our Director

Ross H. Pifer, Center Director
Telephone: (814) 865-3723
E-mail: rhp102@psu.edu

Ross H. Pifer assumed his duties as director of the Agricultural Law Resource and Reference Center at Penn State's Dickinson School of Law in March 2008. Through his education and professional background, Ross brings extensive agricultural and legal experience to the Center. Ross was born and raised on a fifth-generation farm near Punxsutawney, PA. He received his B.S. in agricultural business management from Penn State University, his J.D. from The Dickinson School of Law, and his LL.M. in agricultural law from the University of Arkansas School of Law.

While completing the coursework for his LL.M. degree in Agricultural Law, Ross worked as a Research Fellow at the National Agricultural Law Center, which is located at the University of Arkansas School of Law. During his research fellowship, he conducted writing and research on a variety of agricultural, environmental, and food law topics, including the Food Security Provisions of the Bioterrorism Act of 2002, Country of Origin Labeling, Food Traceability, and Urbanization and Agriculture.

Prior to accepting the position as director of the Agricultural Law Resource and Reference Center, Ross was an attorney-advisor for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of General Counsel. In this capacity, he served as the primary legal advisor to the Farm Service Agency, the Rural Housing Service, the Rural Utilities Service, and the Rural Business Service in Pennsylvania and to the Natural Resources Conservation Service in New York State.

Ross also has professional work experience in sales with a major international agricultural company and in a private law practice in Gettysburg, PA. Additionally, following his graduation from The Dickinson School of Law, he was commissioned into the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps, receiving the Distinguished Honor Graduate award for graduating first in his Officer Basic Course. While on active duty, he was stationed at the Netherlands Law Center in support of the Headquarters, Allied Forces Central Europe (AFCENT) where he provided advice and representation to military personnel and commands in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Great Britain, and Germany.