Gene L. Wunderlich Papers

Collection

Identifier: MS0453

Staff Only

Content Description

The Gene L. Wunderlich Papers contain materials regarding the land economics programs of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and more specifically, land economics agencies, committees, and programs of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the Economic Research Service (ERS). Materials are chiefly concerned with the era from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. The documents consist of committee meeting reports, papers, correspondence, bibliographies, and other publications on land ownership and tenure programs, legislation and policy. There are materials from and concerning the U.S. regional land tenure research committees, including the Southern Land Economics Research Committee, the North Central Land Economics Committee, the Interregional Land Tenure Research Committee, and the Interregional Resource Economics Committee. There are also FAO and USAID publications from 1970, such as bibliographies and reviews regarding land reform in various regions of the world.

Dates

Creation: 1933-1995
Creation: Majority of material found within 1955-1973

Conditions Governing Access

Contact Special Collections for access.

Biographical Sketch

Gene L. (Gene Lee) Wunderlich (1929-) was raised on a farm in North Dakota. He graduated from the University of North Dakota and received his M.S. (1951) and Ph.D. (1955) from Iowa State University. He wrote his Ph.D. dissertation on "Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act as a Means of Agrarian Reform." In 1955, he began a 40-year career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), working for the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the Economic Research Service (ERS) on issues concerning USDA policy on land tenure and ownership. He also served as a consultant to the World Bank, USAID, and organizations in the former Soviet Union. He wrote or edited numerous books and articles on land tenure, land taxation, and land reform. Wunderlich retired in 1995 as a senior economist with the ERS.