President Joe Biden has announced that he plans to appoint University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Chancellor Laurence Alexander as chair of the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development.
The seven-person committee advises the U.S. Agency for International Development, which administers civilian aid and promotes economic prosperity in more than 100 foreign countries.
As head of the panel, Alexander will help ensure that the agency “brings the assets of U.S. universities to bear on development challenges in agriculture and food security,” the university said in a news release.
Alexander is the first board chair to lead a historically Black college established under the Morrill Act of 1890.
“I’m honored to serve in this capacity,” Alexander said in the release. “As Chancellor of Arkansas’ only land-grant HBCU institution, our mission is steeped in innovation and discovery. This BIFAD appointment will be an excellent opportunity to expand awareness about the leading industry in the state of Arkansas—agriculture.
“In addition, it will further expand awareness about the research and extension mission of land-grant universities, and specifically about UAPB’s initiatives, such as the agriculture and aquaculture research in which our renowned faculty are engaged, as well as our outreach services to small farmers in the state.”
Alexender was named chancellor of UAPB in 2013. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, the Board of Directors of Jefferson Regional Medical Center and the Board of the Economic Development Alliance for Jefferson County.
He also serves as vice chair of the NCAA Division I Presidential Forum and Chair of the Southwestern Athletic Conference Council of Presidents and Chancellors.
Alexander was named an Arkansas Business Influencer in Education in 2017.
Along with Alexander, Biden also appointed the following new board members:
- Marie Boyd, associate professor of law at the University of South Carolina
- Rattan Lal, 2020 World Food Prize laureate, distinguished university professor of soil science and director of the Center for Carbon Management and Sequestration at The Ohio State University
- Saweda Liverpool-Tasie, associate professor in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics at Michigan State University
- Henri Moore, vice president and head of responsible business, GSK Consumer Health
- Kathy Spahn, president and CEO of Helen Keller International
Biden also extended the appointment of Pamela Anderson, director general emerita of the International Potato Center.
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