Neil D. Hamilton, Dwight Opperman Distinguished Professor and Director, Agricultural Law Center, Drake University Law School, Des Moines, Iowa.
He and his wife Khanh live on Sunstead, a 10-acre garden farm, near Waukee and raise vegetables for restaurants. He has a B.S. from Iowa State 1976 in Forestry and Economics and a J.D. from Univ. of Iowa 1979. He has taught agricultural law for 27 years and written many books and articles for farmers and lawyers, including The Legal Guide for Direct Farm Marketing. He is a past-president of the American Agricultural Law Association.

Hamilton has directed the Center since its creation in 1983 and helped established its national and international reputation for excellence in research and education on agricultural law issues, including: food democracy, rural development, plant intellectual property rights, agricultural industrialization and the future of sustainable agriculture. He has lectured throughout the U.S. and in twenty foreign countries and teaches annually at the University of Nantes and the University of Arkansas. He chairs the Boards of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at ISU and the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, and is on the boards of the Seed Savers Exchange and the National Gardening Association.