THE
Volume 11, Issue 3 Fall 2009
Roger Beachy Tapped as First Director
of the National Institute of Food
and Agriculture
Dr. Roger Beachy, founding president of the
Danforth Center, has been appointed as
the fi rst Director of the National Institute of
Food and Agriculture (NIFA) by the White
House. First made public on September 23
during the Center’s annual fall symposium,
the announcement was met with cheers of
congratulations. Beachy began serving in his
new position on October 5, but was unable to
make the announcement earlier due to White
House protocol.
NIFA is a newly-formed agency of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA), with a goal to stimulate and fund
the research and technological innovations that will enhance American
agriculture and make it more productive and environmentally sustainable.
In many ways it is the agricultural equivalent of the esteemed National
Institutes of Health. A growing program in competitive research grants
will be a hallmark of the new agency.
The Institute was developed as a result of a task force chaired by Center
PAGE 2
Chairman Dr. William H. Danforth and appointed by then-Secretary of
A Vaccine for the
Agriculture, Ann M. Veneman. The Danforth Task Force recommended Common Cold?
that Congress authorize the creation of NIFA as a way to strengthen
PAGE 3
agriculture research and to attract additional highly competitive research
New to the Center:
scientists to this fi eld of study.
Dr. Ivan Baxter
“This exciting new agency is critical to growing our agriculture economy
PAGE 4 - 5
and ensures that innovation in plant science and agriculture research
will fl ourish,” said Beachy. “I have been a strong proponent of NIFA as
Plantasia 2009
have the scientists at the Danforth Plant Science Center, and of course PAGE 6 - 7
our Chairman, Dr. Danforth. I am honored to have been selected for this
Roger Beachy
position by the President and am committed to sharing my knowledge and
Retrospective
experiences to help shape research and its applications that will impact
PAGE 8
agriculture and food in the U.S. and in developing economies.”
Grant Updates
Agricultural Secretary Tom Vilsak spoke of his high-hopes for the USDA
and its new institute: “The opportunity to truly transform a fi eld of science
PAGE 9
happens at best once a generation. Right now, I am convinced, is the
Ask a Plant Scientist:
USDA’s opportunity to work with Congress, the other science agencies,
Oliver Yu
and with our partners in industry, academia, and the nonprofi t sector, to
bring about transformative change… We have new and powerful tools—
biotechnology, nanotechnology, and large-scale computer simulations—
applicable to all types of agriculture… These discoveries and tools come The Leafl et is a quarterly
not a moment too soon.” publication for partners,
friends, and supporters of
the Donald Danforth Plant
continued on bottom of page 3
Science Center.
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