Dr. Elsa A. Murano
President Emerita of Texas A&M University and Professor of Food Microbiology
Director of the Norman E. Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture & Development
Former Undersecretary for Food Safety at the United States Department of Agriculture
Dr. Murano earned a Ph.D. in Food Science & Technology from Virginia Tech in 1990, beginning her career as a food microbiologist at Iowa State University, where she also served as Assistant Director in charge of research for the Electron Beam Food Irradiation Center. She later joined the faculty of Food Science & Technology at Texas A&M University in 1995, also serving as Director of their Center for Food Safety, publishing over 60 scientific papers in renown journals, and 12 books and book chapters.
In 2001, 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 where she secured a 26% increase in state appropriations, funding for a new bioengineering program, and construction of the Agriculture & Life Sciences headquarters complex.
Dr. Murano then became the first woman and first Hispanic president of the University, where she helped increase its national ranking by U.S. News & World Report as a public university from 23rd to 19th during her brief tenure. This ranking has not been repeated, with the university currently ranked 21st among public universities. She served on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the NASA Advisory Committee on Microbiology for Space Foods, the board of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) and was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Advisory Board for International Food and Agriculture Development (BIFAD).
From 2012 to the present, she has been serving as Director of the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture & Development at Texas A&M University, leading and securing over $120 million in funding to conduct applied research and extension projects in developing countries. She serves on several boards, including as Vice Chair of CIMMYT (an international CGIAR center based in Texcoco, Mexico), as member of the Advisory Council of the World Food Prize Foundation, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA), the Food Security Leadership Council, the non-profit Semilla Nueva, and the Society for International Development.
Dr. Murano currently serves on the Board of Directors of Hormel Foods and of Blue Bell Creameries. She has served as reviewer for several journals, including the Journal of Food Science and the Journal of Food Protection. She has served as a member of the National Advisory Committee for Meat and Poultry Inspection, the National Alliance for Food Safety, several committees for the Institute of Food Technologists and the American Society for Microbiology.
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 she 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.