Roger Beachy Named First Director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture
President Barack Obama has appointed Dr. Roger Beachy, founding president of the Danforth Center, as the first Director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). Beachy officially began serving in his new position on October 5, 2009.
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.
“THIS EXCITING NEW AGENCY IS CRITICAL TO GROWING OUR
AGRICULTURE ECONOMY AND ENSURES THAT INNOVATION IN
PLANT SCIENCE AND
AGRICULTURE RESEARCH WILL FLOURISH”
-ROGER BEACHY
The Institute was developed as a result of a task force chaired by Center Chairman Dr. William H. Danforth and appointed by then-Secretary of Agriculture Ann M. Veneman. The Danforth Task Force recommended that Congress authorize the creation of NIFA as a way to strengthen agriculture research and to attract additional highly competitive research scientists to this field of study.
“This exciting new agency is critical to growing our agriculture economy and ensures that innovation in plant science and agriculture research will flourish,” said Beachy. “I am honored to have been selected for this position by the President and am committed to sharing my knowledge and experiences to help shape research and its applications that will impact agriculture and food in the U.S. and in developing economies.”
Agricultural Secretary Tom Vilsack spoke of his high-hopes for the USDA and its new institute: “The opportunity to truly transform a field of science happens at best once a generation. Right now, I am convinced, is the USDA’s opportunity to work with Congress, the other science agencies, and with our partners in industry, academia, and the nonprofit sector, to bring about transformative change.”
Though Beachy now spends the majority of his time in Washington DC, he is technically “on loan” from the Center, and his research lab will remain at the Center. Beachy previously announced his intention to step down as president of the Center, and a search committee, headed by Dr. P. Roy Vagelos, had already been assembled to find his successor.
“I am thrilled and sad at the same time.” said Center Chairman William H. Danforth. “I hate to see Roger less active in St. Louis even for a little while. On the other hand I believe strongly in NIFA. No one in the world would be a better founding director. “
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Roger Beachy and his wife Terry 2009 Annual Report
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