Board for International Food and Agricultural Development - Biographies
BIFAD Chair & University Appointee
 Dr. Brady J. Deaton
Chancellor, University of Missouri
Columbia, Missouri
Dr. Brady J. Deaton is Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer of the University of Missouri. He holds a B.S. in Agricultural Economics, an M.A. in Diplomacy and International Commerce from the University of Kentucky, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Wisconsin. From 1962 to 1964, Dr. Deaton was a Peace Corps volunteer in Nan, Thailand, where he taught vocational agriculture in the Thai language.
Dr. Deaton spent 12 years at Virginia Tech, the last four as associate director of the Office for International Development. In March 1989, he joined the University of Missouri as professor and chair in the Agricultural Economics Department and as Social Science Unit leader. He transitioned from faculty to administration in December 1993, when he was appointed chief of staff in the Office of the Chancellor. He became deputy chancellor in 1997. In January 1998, Dr. Deaton was appointed interim provost and was named to the permanent position in October of that year and was appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2004.
Dr. Deaton holds leadership roles in many university, community and national organizations. He served as chair of the Academic Affairs Council of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU), participates in advisory roles with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and maintains active membership in the American and International Agricultural Economics Associations. In 2010, he was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Big 12 Conference. He has authored more than 100 articles, presentations and book chapters in his career in addition to co-authoring three books. In 2009 he received an honorary degree from Prince of Songkla University in Hat Yai, Thailand.
 Dr. Gebisa Ejeta
Distinguished Professor, Department of Agronomy
Purdue University
West Lafayette, Indiana
Gebisa Ejeta is the Distinguished Professor of Plant Breeding & Genetics and International Agriculture at Purdue University and the Executive Director of the Purdue Center for Global Food Security. He completed his early education in his native country including a BS in Plant Sciences from Alemaya College in 1973. He attended graduate school at Purdue University earning his Masters (1976) and PhD (1978) in Plant Breeding & Genetics. In March 1979, Gebisa joined the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and conducted seminal sorghum research in Sudan for five years. In January 1984, Dr. Ejeta returned to Purdue University as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Agronomy. Since then, he has led a comprehensive educational and research program at Purdue with emphasis on African agricultural research and development.
Dr. Ejeta serves on the Consortium Board of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research, the Sasakawa Africa Association, and the Chicago Council for Global Affairs Agricultural Development Program. He is a Fellow of the American Association of the Advancement of Sciences, the Crop Science Society of Agronomy, and the American Society of Agronomy. He was a member of the team that launched the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa, a joint effort of the Rockefeller and Gates Foundation.
Among his many awards, Gebisa Ejeta was the recipient of the 2009 World Food Prize; and a national medal of honor from the President of Ethiopia.
 Catherine Ann Bertini
Professor
Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Syracuse, New York
Following more than a decade of service to the United Nations, Catherine Bertini joined the faculty of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs in 2005 as Professor of Public Administration. She teaches courses in Humanitarian Action, UN Management, Girl's Education, and Post-Conflict Reconstruction, drawing on the vast experience she gained during her years of leadership in public sector management, international organizations, humanitarian relief, nutrition policy, and agricultural development.
Professor Bertini's career spans public service at international, national, state, and local levels and includes private sector and foundation experience. She was the driving force behind reform of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), where she was the Chief Executive for ten years. During her tenure, WFP's institutional changes in the area of efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability were cited by the U.S. Government and the thirty-six-government board of WFP as a model of UN reform. She has received honorary degrees from multiple universities, both domestic and international.
Professor Bertini is the 2003 World Food Prize winner and a member of two USAID Advisory Committees: the Board of International Food and Agricultural Development and the Advisory Committee for Voluntary Foreign Aid (ACVFA). She also served as a Senior Fellow in Agricultural Development at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. There, she advised on the development of the foundation's new agricultural portfolio which strives to improve the well-being of poor farmers in Africa and South Asia. Currently, she is co-chair of the Global Agriculture Development Initiative for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and chair of the Council's Girls in Rural Economies project.
 Dr. William B. DeLauder
President Emeritus
Delaware State University
Dover, Delaware
In July 1, 2003, Dr. DeLauder retired after serving sixteen years as President of Delaware State University. During his tenure on the Dover campus, Dr. DeLauder centered his efforts on quality academic programs and enhancement of the institution's growth and development.
Before his appointment at Delaware State University, Dr. DeLauder was Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina. He also served as professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry at NC A&T. Dr. DeLauder served as an officer (highest rank was Captain) in the U.S. Army for about four and one-half years.
In 2008, Dr. DeLauder was appointed to the Board for International Food and Agriculture Development. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa, the Board of Directors of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), the Board of the American Farmland Trust, the Senior Council of the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce, the Executive Committee of the Grand Opera House, the Board of Directors of United Way of Delaware, and numerous other civic and social organizations.
In March 1994, Dr. DeLauder was the recipient of the Thurgood Marshall Award for outstanding contributions to the higher education of African Americans. He holds honorary doctorate degrees from Kent State University and the University of Delaware, and numerous other awards and honors. Dr. DeLauder earned a BS degree in chemistry from Morgan State College (now University) and a Ph.D. degree in physical chemistry from Wayne State University. He did post-doctorate research in physical biochemistry at Centre de Biophysique Moleculaire du C.N.R.S. in Orleans-La Source, France.
 Dr. Elsa Murano
Professor & President Emerita
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas
Dr. Murano is a professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at the Texas A&M University (TAMU). From 2008 to 2009, she served as President of the university. Dr. Murano holds a B.S. in biological sciences from Florida International University, an M.S. in anaerobic microbiology and a Ph.D. in food science and technology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute.
Prior to her present position, Murano served as the Vice Chancellor and Dean, Agricultural and Life Sciences; and Director, Texas Agrilife Research, formerly Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Texas A & M University system. She also had oversight of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Texas Cooperative Extension, Texas Forest Service and Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory. In 2001 President Bush appointed Dr. Murano as Undersecretary for Food Safety at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the highest ranking food safety official in the U.S. Government. She has also served as a professor in the Department of Animal Science, and Director, Center for Food Safety within the Institute of Food Science and Engineering at TAMU. In 2008, she was also appointed to the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development.
 Jo Luck
President, Heifer International
Little Rock, Arkansas
Jo Luck is the recipient of the 2010 World Food Prize. She was CEO of Heifer International, having served as the organization's president and chief executive officer from 1992 to 2010, and as director of International Programs from 1989 to 1992. Heifer International is a global organization working to end poverty and hunger. Luck is credited with growing Heifer International's budget from $7 million to more than $130 million and expanding programs and projects into numerous countries worldwide. Since 1944, Heifer International has aided more than 62 million people- 12 million families- in more than 125 countries.
Prior to joining Heifer, Jo Luck served as executive director of the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism for more than a decade as then Gov. Bill Clinton's first cabinet appointee in January 1979. Jo Luck also served as the first executive director of the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, an organization modeled after the Children's Defense Fund in Washington, D.C. Jo Luck attended Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where she served on the Executive Committee of the Alumni Advisory Board. In 1999, she attended Harvard Business School's Executive Education Session on Governing for Nonprofit Excellence.
 Marty L. McVey
President, McVey & Co. Investments LLC
Houston, Texas
Marty McVey is President of McVey & Co. Investments, a private equity firm that focuses primarily on Healthcare, Real Estate and Energy Investments in Houston, Texas. In his commitment to commercial agricultural development, Mr. McVey's experience centers on agriculturally-based renewable and solar energy. He is engaged in acquiring and developing the complete cycle of energy production, and processing and delivering of blended bio-fuel products and solar energy to global markets. McVey & Co. Investments owns a historic Houston community hospital that has participated in serving the people of Houston with high quality patient care for 53 years.
Mr. McVey is an officer, shareholder and member to the Board of Directors of thirteen privately held companies. He currently oversees a real estate portfolio within the United States. Complementing his business experience with international interests and affairs, Mr. McVey has demonstrated his public minded spirit by serving actively with or supporting the work of eleven charitable organizations. These include: Tahirih Justice Center, The Indus Entrepreneurs, Human Rights Watch, Friends of the American University of Afghanistan, Global Houston, The Asia Society, World Affairs Council and the NAACP.
Mr. McVey holds a degree of Business Administration with a concentration in Management and a Master of Business Administration degree with a concentration in Management.
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