Elsa Murano

Dr. Murano earned a Ph.D. in Food Science & Technology from Virginia Tech, beginning her career as a food microbiologist at Iowa State University.  She later joined the faculty at Texas A&M University and served as Director of their Center for Food Safety.  In, Professor Murano was appointed Undersecretary for Food Safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture by President George W. Bush.  Her leadership resulted in policies that achieved the Centers for Disease Control’s Healthy People 2010 goals of reducing foodborne illnesses 6 years ahead of schedule.  In 2005, she returned to Texas A&M as Dean and Vice Chancellor of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M where she secured a 26% increase in state appropriations.  She then became the first woman and first Hispanic president of the University, where she helped increase the University’s national ranking from 24th to 21st in less than 2 years.  From 2012 to the present, she has been serving as Director of the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture, leading research and extension projects in developing countries, with funding exceeding $100M.  She serves on several Boards, including CIMMYT (a CGIAR research center), the Advisory Council of the World Food Prize Foundation, the Food Security Leadership Council, as well as two food industry corporations.  Dr. Murano has received several significant awards, including the Outstanding Alumni in the Global Community at Virginia Tech, the American By Choice Award given by the Department of Homeland Security, and was inducted into the Texas Woman of the Year Hall of Fame, the National Hispanic Scholarship Hall of Fame, and the Meat Industry Hall of Fame.