4 industry leaders elected to Farm Foundation Board

Four leaders working in diverse areas of the nation’s food and agriculture sector have been elected to serve on the Farm Foundation board of directors. They are:
  • Dan Basse, CEO of AgResources Inc., is a commodity analyst advising domestic and international companies across the food value chain. 
  • Robert Jones, chancellor of the University of Illinois, is a crop physiology scientist who has spent the majority of his academic career working in Land Grant universities.
  • Jackie Joyner-Kersee, a six-time Olympic medalist, works to provide youth, adults and families with the resources to improve their quality of life through her leadership of the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation.
  • Andy LaVigne is president of the American Seed Trade Association, with expertise in government relations, agriculture, food policy and international trade.

"We are excited to add the incredible expertise of these four leaders to the Farm Foundation Board," says Board Chair Joe Swedberg, a retired executive of Hormel Foods. "Their addition to the Board further expands the potential of Farm Foundation to respond to the enormous challenges facing the food and agriculture sector today."

In addition to the four new members, Jerome Lyman, a retired executive of McDonald’s Corporation, and Bill Buckner, CEO of Noble Research Institute, were re-elected to their second, three-year terms on the board.
 
The four new members of the board succeed John Hardin of Hardin Farms, Danville, Indiana; Wendy Wintersteen, president of Iowa State University; and Mike Martin, president of Florida Gulf Coast University, whose terms on the board have expired, and Dan Glickman of the Aspen Institute, who stepped down from the board.
 
Farm Foundation is an agricultural policy institute cultivating dynamic non-partisan collaboration to meet society’s need for food, fiber, feed and energy. Since 1933, it has connected leaders in farming, business, academia, organizations and government through proactive, rigorous debate and objective issue analysis.