Board of Directors

Barbara Schaal is the Mary-Dell Chilton Distinguished Professor of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis.  She was born in Berlin, Germany and grew up in Chicago. She graduated from the...

Thomas Grumbly serves as Vice-Chair of the Supporters of Agricultural Research (SoAR) Foundation Board and was the founding President and CEO of SoAR from 2014-2021. Mr. Grumbly has held senior leadership...

For the past 21 years, John McDonnell has been actively involved in establishing an entrepreneurial ecosystem in St. Louis to enable start-up companies to commercialize life science research...

Rose Barbuto is the Chief Executive Officer of Crystal Strategies, a consulting firm in Washington, DC. She most recently served as the Farm Journal Foundation’s Executive Director of External Relations,...

Dr. Roger Beachy is the Founding Executive Director of the World Food Center, University of California, Davis. In 2009 he was appointed by President Obama as the first director of the National Institute...

Dr. Vicki Chandler is Provost at the Minerva Schools at KGI. Previously, she was Dean of Faculty and Chief Academic Officer and Dean of the College of Natural Sciences at Minerva. She has served as the...

Neil Dierks is the retired Chief Executive Officer of the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC). Beginning in 1990, Dierks served NPPC in a series of senior executive positions since 1990, including...

Zippy Duvall has served as president of the American Farm Bureau Federation since 2016. He is a third-generation farmer from Georgia. He and his son operate a beef cow herd, raise broiler chickens and...

Robert A. Easter was appointed president-designate of the University of Illinois in March 2012, and became the university’s 19th president in July 2012.

Before becoming president, Easter spent his...

Doug Gollin is Professor of Development Economics at the Oxford Department of International Development. His research focusses on economic development and growth, with particular interests in agriculture...

Ronnie D. Green became the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s 20th chancellor on May 8, 2016. 

In July 2010, Ronnie Green was appointed as the Harlan Vice Chancellor of the UNL Institute of...

Dr. Leshner has been Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Executive Publisher of the journal Science since December 2001....

Chris Novak is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Croplife America. Previously, Novak was Chief Executive Officer of the National Corn Growers Association, a grower-led trade association with...

Dr. Sally Rockey recently retired from her position as the Executive Director of the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research in 2022.  Prior to this role, Dr. Rockey was a leader in federal...

Carol Lee Tucker-Foreman, distinguished fellow at Consumer Federation of America’s Food Policy Institute, has an international reputation as a consumer advocate and food policy expert. For more than 35...

Richard Wilkins, a farmer from Greenwood, Del., is President of the American Soybean Association (ASA). He is one of nine soybean growers who make up the ASA Governing Committee.

Wilkins has served...

Dr. William H. Danforth served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri, Chancellor Emeritus of Washington University, and Chair of the...