Appendix A

Panel Biographies

Kathryn J. Boor, PhD, is the dean of the Graduate School and the vice provost for graduate education at Cornell University. Previously, she was the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. Her research focuses on identifying biological factors that affect transmission of bacteria in food systems. Boor is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, the International Academy of Food Science and Technology, the Institute of Food Technologists, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Dairy Science Association. She was named a 2018 Woman of Distinction by the New York State Senate. She earned an MS in food science from the University of Wisconsin and a PhD in microbiology from the University of California, Davis. She serves on the board of directors for Seneca Foods Corporation, International Flavors and Fragrance, the United States-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund, the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research, the Science Board for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the New York State Southern Tier Regional Economic Development Council. She served on the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council’s Committee on the Review of the Use of Scientific Criteria and Performance Standards for Safe Food.

Olga U. Bolden-Tiller, PhD, assumed the deanship of the College of Agriculture, Environment and Nutrition Sciences (CAENS) and the 1890 Research Director, effective January 1, 2022, at Tuskegee University (TU). Bolden-Tiller was a professor and the head of the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the assistant dean for development in CAENS. Bolden-Tiller is a graduate of Fort Valley State University. She has a PhD in animal sciences from the University of Missouri–Columbia and has done postgraduate work in academic leadership at the University of Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Prior to her employment at TU in 2006, she served as a visiting scientist at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, an adjunct faculty member in the Houston Community College System, and as support faculty and a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. At Tuskegee, she worked herself up through the ranks from assistant professor to full professor and finally head of the department, having received numerous awards, including the TU Outstanding Faculty Performance Awards for Teaching and Outreach as well as TU’s Faculty Achievement Award, the highest honor given to faculty at the institution. She is a successful grant writer and has acquired extramural funding for grants ranging from $52,000 to $20 million, supporting the training of numerous high school students and more than 50 undergraduate and graduate students, which has resulted in numerous publications. She holds memberships and leadership roles in several professional associations, including the National Society for Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences, for which she currently serves as the president.

Dina J. Chacón-Reitzel, MBA, has been the executive director of the New Mexico Beef Council since 1991. She was named in 2003 by the New Mexico State University (NMSU) College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Science (ACES) to serve as one of three delegates to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Council for Agricultural Research, Extension and Teaching (CARET) for NMSU. She has also been on the National CARET Executive Board for 12 years and chair of CARET for 2 years. In her role as a CARET delegate, she advocates for federal funds in Washington, DC, for the college. She was appointed to serve as the chair on NMSU’s Board of Regents for 2 years and currently serves as the vice-chair. Chacón-Reitzel also served on the board of the Western Rural Development Center, a collaboration

of the Western Land-Grant Universities. Chacón-Reitzel has served on the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Beef Safety Research Committee for more than 20 years. She has been awarded the New Mexico Outstanding Leadership Award and the Distinguished Alumni Award from the NMSU College of ACES and the Industry Partner Award from the New Mexico Department of Agriculture. Chacón-Reitzel has been honored by New Mexico agriculture organizations, including the New Mexico Cattle Grower’s Association’s King Service Award and the Northern New Mexico Stockman’s Association’s Vaquero Award. She is a graduate of Leadership New Mexico. Chacón-Reitzel earned her MBA from NMSU.

Martin A. Draper, PhD, serves as the associate dean for research and graduate programs, College of Agriculture, and the director for research, K-State Research and Extension at Kansas State University. He previously served as the head of the Department of Plant Pathology at Kansas State University and the national program leader for Plant Pathology and Integrated Pest Management with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He also served as an extension plant pathologist at South Dakota State University (SDSU), where he taught undergraduates and led an applied research program to complement his extension educational programming directed at producers and agricultural stakeholders and decision makers; and the director of the Plant Pest Diagnostic Lab and Seed Health Testing Lab at North Dakota State University (NDSU), where he taught introductory plant pathology and provided service to stakeholders. In his positions, he has had exposure to field crops, horticultural crops, and home garden and landscape plants. He has also consulted with the Serbian government on a restructuring of its extension service and has provided teaching and outreach support in Bolivia. Draper is a member of the American Phytopathological Society, the American Evaluation Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Gamma Sigma Delta, Epsilon Sigma Phi, Phi Sigma, and Sigma Xi. He was recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, the SD Agri-Business Association, the SD Soybean Research and Promotion Council, and the SDSU Extension Specialists Association. Draper received his MS and PhD in plant pathology at NDSU.

Ronnie D. Green, PhD, is the chancellor of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Nebraska’s flagship land-grant and Big Ten institution. He served on the animal science faculties of Texas Tech University and Colorado State University, as the national program leader for animal production research for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), and as the executive secretary of the White House’s interagency working group on animal genomics within the National Science and Technology Council. Prior to returning to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Green served as a global executive for Pfizer Animal Health’s animal genomics business. He is a past president of both the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS) and the National Block and Bridle Club and has served in a number of leadership positions for the U.S. Beef Improvement Federation, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the National Pork Board, the National Academy of Sciences, the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, and the Alpha Gamma Rho national fraternity. He is a fellow of ASAS and the American Association for the Advancement of Science and was honored with the ASAS Morrison Award, the highest international academic recognition for an animal scientist. He received his MS in animal science from Colorado State University and his PhD in animal breeding and genetics jointly at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the USDA-ARS. He is a member of a number of boards, including the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors, Neogen Corporation, and Supporters of Agricultural Research.

Moses T. Kairo, PhD, is a professor, the dean, and the director of land-grant programs in the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES). Prior to joining UMES, he was a professor of entomology and the director of the Center for Excellence in Biological Control at Florida A&M University for nearly 7 years. He also served as the associate research director for its 1890 land-grant institution programs. Kairo has previously worked for CABI, an international development organization, where he served as the lead scientist and a regional representative of the organization’s activities in the Caribbean and Latin America region. His research interests have focused on biological control, invasive species management, and crop protection. Over the years, he has carried out work in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, and the Caribbean. He has served the land-grant community through

various bodies or committees of the Board of Agriculture Assembly of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU). He recently completed his term as the chair of the Experiment Station Section of APLU. He received an MS in applied entomology from Imperial College, London, and a PhD in entomology from the University of London.

Jan E. Leach, PhD, is a university distinguished professor and the associate dean for research in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Colorado State University. She is a plant pathologist who studies the molecular basis of plant disease susceptibility and resistance and how these responses are influenced by interactions with the environment. Leach is the current president of the International Society for Plant Pathology. She is a fellow and a past president of the American Phytopathological Society (APS), a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. In 2019, Leach was awarded the Agropolis Fondation Louis Malassis International Scientific Prize for Agriculture and Food for Distinguished Scientist, and in 2020, she was presented the APS Award of Distinction, an award that has been given only 17 times in the 112 years of APS’s history. Leach was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2021. She holds a PhD in plant pathology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and an MS in microbiology from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Leach was the chair of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s study on California Agricultural Research Priorities: Pierce’s Disease and currently serves as a member of the National Academies’ Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Karen Plaut, PhD, is the Glenn W. Sample Dean of the College of Agriculture at Purdue University where she administers teaching, research, and extension programs. She is responsible for the Indiana Agricultural Experiment Station, the Cooperative Extension Service, and a number of state regulatory agencies. She was previously the senior associate dean for research and the director of the Agriculture Experiment Station at Purdue University. Earlier in her career, she was on faculty at the University of Vermont, followed by 2 years as the lead scientist for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) International Space Station Biological Research project. She then became the chair of the Animal Science Department at the University of Vermont, and later at Michigan State University, before joining Purdue University. As a professor of animal sciences at Purdue University, Plaut leads a research program in mammary gland biology. She has served as a panel reviewer and received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and NASA. She was elected as a fellow of the American Dairy Science Association in 2020. Plaut earned her MS from The Pennsylvania State University and PhD in animal science from Cornell University. She is a member of the National Academies’ Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Wendy Powers, PhD, is the Cashup Davis Family Endowed Dean of the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences at Washington State University, a position she has held since August 2022. She was previously the associate vice president of agriculture and natural resources at the University of California, where she also served as the associate director of Cooperative Extension and the associate director of the Agriculture Experiment Station. Powers started her career as an assistant professor/extension specialist in the Animal Science Department at Iowa State University. After 10 years, Powers moved to Michigan State University (MSU) for another 10 years as a professor/extension specialist and the director of environmental stewardship for animal agriculture at the College of Agriculture, Animal Science and Biosystems & Agriculture Engineering. During this time, she spent 4 years as the first director of the MSU Extension Agriculture and Agribusiness Institute. Powers earned a PhD in animal science and an MS in dairy science from the University of Florida.

Ryan F. Quarles, PhD, is the Commissioner of Agriculture in Kentucky. First elected to that position in 2015, he was re-elected in 2019. Under his leadership, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture started several new programs, including initiatives to combat hunger and connect Kentucky farmers to new markets. Quarles’s outspoken advocacy for farmers has been recognized on the regional and national level. He

has served as the president of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, as the president of the Southern Association of State Departments of Agriculture, and as the chair of the Republican Agriculture Commissioners Committee. From 2010 to 2014, Quarles served as a member of the House of Representatives. His office supports land-grant events with Kentucky State University and the University of Kentucky. Quarles graduated with a master’s degree in higher education from Harvard University. He received his law degree from the University of Kentucky and his doctorate in higher education from Vanderbilt University.

Harold H. Schmitz, PhD, is the co-founder and a general partner of March Capital US, LLC, and a senior scholar in the Graduate School of Management at the University of California (UC), Davis. Previously, he served two terms as the Art and Carlyse Ciocca Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the Graduate School of Management at UC Davis. He worked at Mars, Incorporated for 25 years, where he developed and executed the company’s global strategy for advanced research and innovation at the intersection of food, agriculture, health, and sustainability via collaborations across sectors, including the land-grant colleges and universities. He is an advisor to the Novo Nordisk Foundation’s BioInnovation Institute in Denmark and to the Artificial Intelligence Institute for Next-Generation Food Systems located at UC Davis, which is co-funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Science Foundation. He was recognized as Outstanding Alumnus of the Dale Bumpers College of Agriculture, Food, and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas, and was elected a Life Member in the Council on Foreign Relations. He was a USDA National Needs Research Fellow during 1990–1993 at North Carolina State University, where he trained in the intersection of food, agriculture, and health and received his PhD in food science. He received his MS in food science from the University of Illinois.

Steve Yanni, PhD, is the land-grant director for Bay Mills Community College (BMCC), a tribally controlled college located in Upper Michigan along the shores of Lake Superior. He has been working with the Bay Mills Indian Community in various capacities for 23 years. Prior to working with Bay Mills, he was a faculty member for 18 years at Lake Superior State University and worked for Michigan State University as a county extension director. In his current position he oversees BMCC’s efforts as a 1994 land-grant institution. Current areas of focus include continued development of BMCC’s Waishkey Bay Farm as a teaching, research, and incubator facility focusing on sustainable agriculture and food production that is consistent with traditional Anishinaabek values; development of academic programs in sustainable agriculture; community development and health promotion efforts; overseeing BMCC’s Mukwa Health and Fitness Education Center; and assisting with the evolution of the Michigan Inter-Tribal Land Grant Extension System. Yanni also serves as BMCC’s liaison with the Higher Learning Commission, coordinates research efforts by and with BMCC, and represents 1994 institutions on the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities’ Policy Board of Directors. Yanni earned his PhD from Michigan State University.