Earlier this week, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the formation of the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research (FFAR). ASA strongly supported the creation of the foundation, which will use public and private resources to increase the scientific and technological research, innovation and partnerships that are so critical to keeping America's agricultural economy moving forward.

According to a news release from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), as part of the 2014 Farm Bill, the foundation will operate as a non-profit corporation seeking and accepting private donations in order to fund research activities that focus on problems of national and international significance.

The foundation's 15-member board of directors was chosen to represent the diverse sectors of agriculture. Seven of these board members were selected by the unanimous vote of the board's five ex-officio members from lists of candidates provided by industry, while eight representatives were unanimously elected from a list of candidates provided by the National Academy of Sciences.

ASA nominated Dr. Mark E. Keenum, president of Mississippi State University, and is pleased to congratulate him on his appointment to the FFAR board.

The 15 voting members of the FFAR Board are:

• Dr. Kathryn Boor - the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University
• Dr. Douglas Buhler - Director of AgBioResearch and Senior Associate Dean for Research for the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Michigan State University
• Dr. Nancy Creamer - Distinguished Professor of Sustainable Agriculture and Community Based Food Systems, North Carolina State University
• Dr. Deborah Delmer - Professor Emeritus of Biology, University of California-Davis
• The Honorable Dan Glickman - former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, current Executive Director of the Aspen Institute's Congressional Program
• Dr. Robert Horsch - Deputy Director, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Pamela Johnson - Chairwoman, National Corn Growers Association
• Dr. Mark E. Keenum - President, Mississippi State University
• Dr. Michael Ladisch - Director of the Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering and Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue University
• Dr. Christopher Mallett - Vice President of Research & Development, Cargill, Inc.
• Dr. Pamela Matson - Chester Naramore Dean of the School of Earth Sciences, the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Professor of Environmental Studies and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University
• Dr. Terry McElwain - Associate Director and Professor, Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health, and Executive Director, Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Washington State University
• Dr. Stanley Prusiner - Director of the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Professor of Neurology, University of California-San Francisco and 1997 Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine
• Dr. Yehia "Mo" Saif - Professor Emeritus, The Ohio State University
• Dr. Barbara Schaal - Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences and Mary-Dell Chilton Distinguished Professor at Washington University in St. Louis.
• The five ex-officio board members, all of whom were designated by Congress, are Vilsack; Dr. Catherine Woteki, USDA's Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics and Chief Scientist; Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young, Administrator of the USDA's Agricultural Research Service; Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy, Director of the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture; and Dr. France A. Córdova, Director of the National Science Foundation.

ASA looks forward to seeing the board’s accomplishments in advancing U.S. agriculture and the awarding of grants to fund research activities.