Elmer L Menzie was born in 1923 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He lived there on a farm until 1941, when the family moved to a dairy farm near Cloverdale, BC. He spent 3 years in the Royal Canadian Air Force, following which he attended the University of British Columbia where he obtained a BSA (Honours in Agricultural Economics) in 1952. He then entered graduate school and obtained a MSA in Agricultural Economics in 1955. Further graduate work led to the award of a PhD in Agricultural Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, 1961.
Dr. Menzie was a Lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Economics at UBC during 1952-53 and 1954-57. During this period he completed a major study of the production and marketing of vegetables in the interior of BC. He left for Berkeley, California, in 1957. After obtaining his PhD he became an Assistant Professor in Agricultural Economics at Montana State College, Bozeman (1960-61), where he taught courses and did research in livestock marketing. In 1961 he accepted a faculty position in the Agricultural Economics Department at the University of Arizona, Tucson, where he remained until 1975, rising through the academic ranks to become full Professor. His teaching and research were mainly in agricultural policy and marketing. From 1964-67 Dr. Menzie was a Team Advisor in Agricultural Economics at the Escola Agronomia, University of Ceara, Fortaleza, Brazil.
In 1975 Dr. Menzie accepted the position of Professor and Director, School of Agricultural Economics and Extension Education, University of Guelph. He held this position until 1985 when he became Professor and Chairman, Department of Agricultural Economics and Business, University of Guelph. He stood down from this post in 1986 and remained in the Department as a Professor, until retirement in 1988.
Dr Menzie has over 100 publications, including journal papers, technical reports, and other documents. His major emphasis was on livestock marketing and on various aspects of US and Canadian agricultural policies.
Dr. Menzie and wife Emily reside in Guelph, Ontario. They have one son (Keith), a daughter (Anne) and two grandchildren.
