Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced today the appointment of Dr. Kathryn Boor, Ronald P. Lynch Dean of CALS, as an inaugural member of the board of directors of the new Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research. Dean Boor will serve as one of 15 appointed and 5 ex-officio directors of the Foundation.
Established by Congress in the 2014 Farm Bill, the Foundation will foster research, innovation and partnerships important to the nation’s agricultural economy. It will aim to address problems of national and international importance in plant and animal health, production and products; food safety, nutrition and health; renewable energy, natural resources and the environment; agricultural and food security; agriculture systems and technology; and agricultural economics and rural communities. It will also work to foster collaboration among agricultural researchers to meet unmet and emerging research needs through grants, contracts, cooperative agreements and memoranda of understanding.
The Foundation will operate as a non-profit corporation seeking and accepting private donations in order to fund research activities. Congress also provided $200 million in research dollars to be matched by non-federal funds as the Foundation identifies and approves projects.
The board of directors will have broad responsibilities to establish policies, governance structures and set priorities for the new Foundation.
“I am thrilled that Dr. Kathryn Boor of New York was appointed to the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research Board of Directors,” said U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. “This new foundation will provide much needed resources to our nation’s farmers and industry leaders in the areas of food safety, nutrition, energy, agriculture systems, technology, economics and rural communities. I supported her nomination and commend her leadership at Cornell University, providing resourceful tools, technology and information to New York farmers.”
