Wes Watkins Center Directory

Dr. Mike Dicks was raised in rural Orange County, California. He began his agricultural career working in the vegetable fields and the ranches of the Irvine Company. He was active in FFA and Ag Explorers and showed many champion sheep and cattle at various county and regional fairs. He graduated from Mission Viejo High School in 1971 and obtained degrees in biochemistry and animal science from California Polytechnic State University in 1975.

In 1976, Dr. Dicks arrived in Kenya to serve three and a half years with the U.S. Peace Corps as a chemistry teacher. During his years teaching he visited many of the local farms and developed technologies to provide water and energy to the rural communities. In 1978 he received funding from Ford Foundation, CARE, and National Christian Council of Kenya to establish a rural cooperative to assist in the development and construction of water delivery and energy production technologies for rural communities.

He obtained his masters working on a waste to energy project in Tunisia and his doctorate in Agricultural Economics specializing in natural resource policy from the University of Missouri.

From 1984 to 1989, Dr Dicks worked with USDA’s Economic Research Service in Washington, D.C. In 1989, he was hired by Oklahoma State University to work in the area of Agricultural Policy.

Over the last 3 decades, Dr. Dicks has assisted farm and commodity groups, environmental groups, USDA and Congress in developing farm policy, and has assisted numerous foreign governments, U.S. government agencies and non-government organizations in international agricultural development activities. He has worked in Eastern Europe, the middle east, North, East and West Africa, the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico.

He has been married for 28 years and has three children (two sons 26 and 23, and a daughter 24) and currently operates a 100 head capacity angus cow-calf operation. He is a member of numerous community, church and social organizations including the Stillwater School Board, Payne County Farm Bureau Board, ALOT Angus Association Board, and Rotary International.

Accomplishments include: 33 journal articles, 10 Congressional Testimonies, 33 research reports, 119 miscellaneous publications (extension newsletters, articles in periodicals, etc.), 18 books or book chapters, 25 papers in published proceedings, 12 project reports, and 75 papers presented at professional meetings, 14 honors and awards, 19 Grants and contracts for $2,091,840, and numerous Community, University, College and Department Committees, Boards and leadership positions.

Recent Awards include:

• Jack Everly Journal Award, North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA, 2010)
• Board of Education Excellence, Oklahoma State School Board Association (2009)
• Distinguished Service to Oklahoma Agriculture Award, Ok. Farm Bureau (2008)
• Oklahoma Returned Peace Corps Volunteer’s Exemplary Service (2006)
• Stillwater Pioneer’s Blue and Gold Award (2006)
• Outstanding Group Award, Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service (2003)
• Aggie-X Outstanding Advisor Award (2003)
• Southern Agricultural Economics Association Outstanding Service Award (2002)

Anthony Cambas is a native of Tampa, Florida who brings more than 20 years total of public and private experience in international trade and development to the Center for International Trade and Development at Oklahoma State University. Tony is multilingual and has obtained various professional certifications and credentials including: Certified Customs Specialist (CCS), Certified Global Business Professional (CGBP), Licensed Customs Broker (LCB) and Illinois Certified Business Development Advisor.

Anthony holds a B.A. in International Relations and a Certificate in Latin American and Caribbean Studies from Florida International University in Miami, Florida and a Masters in International Customs Law and Administration from the University of Canberra, Australia. In 2010, he attended the World Trade Institute (WTI) Summer Academy on International Trade Regulation and WTO Law at the University of Bern in Switzerland and has also received various post- graduate certificates for studies undertaken in El Salvador in Economics, Philosophy and International Trade from the Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas (UCA) and the Escuela Superior de Economía y Negocios (ESEN).

Tony comes to OSU from the International Trade Center at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) and worked a total of nearly four years in the Illinois SBDC International Trade Center network at Bradley University and SIUC. In Illinois, he provided small and medium-sized companies with assistance on international trade and export related matters including: beginning to export; import/export compliance; international payments and finance; global logistics and shipping; international marketing and business development; and overcoming cultural and linguistic barriers.

Between 1992 and 1999, Anthony worked with U.S. Customs in Miami, Florida where as an Import Specialist Team Leader he participated in numerous compliance audits as well as developed, implemented, and executed trade outreach and enforcement policies and procedures for Antidumping/Countervailing, HS classification, Customs valuation, rules of origin verifications, and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) enforcement.

While with U.S. Customs, Anthony provided technical assistance to the Customs administrations of Honduras and Venezuela on the implementation of the WTO valuation standards and delivered training on combating corruption and commercial fraud. Since leaving the federal government, he has worked in the international trade and development field on short and long term USAID, European Union and other projects on SME export promotion, Customs reform and modernization, Free Trade Agreement implementation, and trade facilitation. Anthony’s international development experience includes stints as a Chief of Party and Senior Advisor and Consultant in Africa, Asia, and Latin America in 10 countries: Angola, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nepal and Nicaragua.

Kate Arroyo has worked at the Center for International Trade and Development since December 2010. During this time Kate developed and facilitated the Certified Global Business Professional online course, assisted to research and write grant proposals, coordinated with various departments to welcome international guests, and has written various articles for the International Informant. In addition to her daily work duties, Kate also established and manages the fair trade store, called Gondwana, which raises money for the Center’s West Africa development projects through selling a variety of international curios.

Kate earned her undergraduate degree in International Studies with a focus in Spanish and Business from the University of South Florida in Tampa, FL. She later earned her Master of Science degree in International Studies with a focus on International Trade and Development from Oklahoma State University. Her area of interest is economic development in Latin America, the Caribbean, and West Africa.

Kate has 18 years work experience in various fields with six years’ operations and personnel management experience in the satellite television industry. She has passion for learning about other cultures which began when she lived in Chile for six months as a high school exchange student. As a college student, Kate studied abroad in Iceland (2000), Cuba (2002), and Sierra Leone (2010), in addition to working in Costa Rica for four months in 2009. She has also traveled to Puerto Rico, Canada, St. Thomas, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, New Zealand, and Holland.