About the Authors
Thomas N.Urban is the former chairman and CEO of Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., and currently chairman of the Board of Trustees, Carnegie Institution of Washington. Mr. Urban joined Pioneer in 1960 and became president in 1979 and chairman, president, and CEO in 1984. In 1992, he was named Iowa Business Leader of the Year. On leaving Pioneer in 1995, Mr. Urban became a visiting professor at the Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University. He has served on numerous advisory committees, including the World Agriculture Development Foundation, President-elect Clinton’s transition team, and the Council on Foreign Relations. Mr. Urban has also served on National Academies groups, including the Working Group on New Alliances and Partnerships: Enhancing the Utilization of Scientific and Engineering Advances and the Government-University-Industry Roundtable. He is a member of the National Research Council’s Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources. Mr. Urban received his MBA degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Business and his BA from Harvard University.
Peter J.Barry is professor of agricultural finance and director of the Center for Farm and Rural Business Finance at the University of Illinois, Urbana. He is a past president and a fellow of the American Agricultural Economics
Association. Dr. Barry is also the past chair of the ESCOP Social Sciences Subcommittee and the current chair of the Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics (C-FARE). He has been a professor at Texas A&M University and the University of Guelph; editor of the American Journal of Agricultural Economies’, and consulting editor for the European Review of Agricultural Economics. Dr. Barry received his PhD, MS, and BS degrees in agricultural economics from the University of Illinois.
Francis F.Busta is professor and former head of the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul. He is a consultant to 3M, the International Consortium of Food Quality Professionals, Inc., and the Proctor and Gamble Company. He is a long-time member of the International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Food. His research interests include environmental stress on microorganisms, influence of food systems on growth and survival of microorganisms, thermal processing, general microbiologic aspects of food processing and preservation, probiotic control of sporeformers and cancer, and hazard-analysis critical control point approaches to quality management. Dr. Busta studied food science at the University of Illinois, where he received his PhD degree; and dairy industries and bacteriology at the University of Minnesota, where he received his MS and BA degrees.
Mary-Dell Chilton is senior staff scientist at Novartis Seeds in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. She earned her PhD in chemistry on the Urbana campus of the University of Illinois in 1967. After postdoctoral studies and various research appointments at the University of Washington, she joined the faculty of Washington University, in St. Louis, in 1979. Her research group in collaboration with others produced the first transgenic tobacco plants in 1982. She joined Ciba-Geigy in 1983 as executive director of agricultural biotechnology. She held administrative positions at Ciba for 11 years, and she has returned to active engagement in bench research at Ciba, now Novartis through merger. Her honors include the Rank Prize in Nutrition (1986), election to the National Academy of Sciences (1985), the David Gotlieb Medal (1986), the Hendricks Medal (1987), and election to the American Academy of arts and Sciences (1993). She was awarded the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Louvain in 1983. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (1994) and has served on the North Carolina Board of Science and Technology since 1986. Her current research is directed to improving the technology for introducing new genes into crop plants.
Daryl E.Chubin is senior policy officer in the National Science Board Office of the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Arlington, Virginia. While at NSF, he has also served as director of the Research, Evaluation, and Communication Division. In 1997, he was on detail as assistant director for social and behavioral sciences and education at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Dr. Chubin’s professional interests have focused on the social and
political dimensions of science and technology as related to education, human resources, interdisciplinary teamwork, mass media, and public policy. He has taught at five universities, served on the staff of the congressional Office of Technology Assessment, is a founding member of the Society for Social Studies of Science, and is president of the Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology and chair-elect of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Section on Societal Impacts of Science and Technology. Dr. Chubin received his PhD in sociology from Loyola University in Chicago.
Robert J.Collier is professor in the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He was previously senior fellow and dairy research director at Monsanto Company in St. Louis, Missouri. His responsibilities included directing all preclinical and clinical dairy research required for commercial approval of bovine somatrotropin in the United States and Canada for the Animal Sciences Division of Monsanto and directing the discovery research program for novel products for the dairy industry. His research interests focus on nutritional physiology, the physiology of lactation, and the effects of environment on dairy cattle and their endocrine systems. Dr. Collier completed an National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellowship at Michigan State University. He received his PhD in physiology from the University of Illinois and his MS and BS degrees from Eastern Illinois University.
Noel T.Keen is distinguished professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of California, Riverside (UCR). He is also director of the UCR Biotechnology Center. Dr. Keen’s research has been key in understanding the molecular and biochemical basis of virulence, pathogenicity, resistance, and gene-for-gene relationships in plant-pathogen interactions. His team’s research pioneered the isolation and characterization of a race-specific elicitor of resistance encoded by a single avirulence gene. Dr. Keen was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1997. He serves as an editor for Plant Physiology and the Journal of Bacteriology. Dr. Keen studied plant pathology at the University of Wisconsin, where he received his PhD degree. He received his MS and BS degrees from Iowa State University.
Michael R.Ladisch is professor in the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department and Director of the Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering at Purdue University. His research addresses fundamental topics in separations and reaction kinetics with current projects in bioseparations, kinetics of biochemical reactions, chemical reaction engineering, and biomass conversion. Dr. Ladisch has served as a member of US delegations and advisory panels to review biotechnology programs in Russia, Thailand, China, and Japan. He chaired the National Research Council Committee on Bioprocess Engineering. He is a former chair and long-range program coordinator of the Biotechnology Division of the American Chemical Society. Dr. Ladisch
received his PhD and MS degrees in chemical engineering from Purdue University and his BS degree from Drexel University. Dr. Ladisch was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1999.
G.Philip Robertson is professor in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences and the W.K.Kellogg Biological Station at Michigan State University, Hickory Corners. Dr. Robertson’s primary research interests include nitrogen availability in managed and natural ecosystems, particularly agricultural systems; trace-gas fluxes from agricultural landscapes, in particular nitrous oxide and methane; spatial variability of soil resources and its relationship to community structure and productivity; and the functional significance of soil microbial diversity. He directs the National Science Foundation Long-Term Ecological Research site in row-crop agriculture and recently served as director of the US Department of Agriculture Fund for Rural America Environment Program. Dr. Robertson received his PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology from Indiana University and his BA from Hampshire College.
Ronald R.Sederoff is distinguished professor and Edwin F.Conger Professor of Forestry at North Carolina State University. He is also an associate member of the Department of Genetics and the Department of Biochemistry and director of the Forest Biotechnology Group at the university. Dr. Sederoff s research interests focus on the molecular genetics of forest trees to accelerate breeding. His research group was the first to transfer a gene into a conifer. They have also developed methods for genomic mapping of individual trees, applied those methods to complex-trait analysis, and used developmental specialization in wood formation to investigate the biochemical and genetic basis of cell wall biosynthesis. Dr. Sederoff received his PhD, MA, and BA degrees in zoology from the University of California, Los Angeles. He completed postdoctoral studies at the Institute de Biologic Moleculaire and a sabbatical in forest genetics with the US Forest Service at Berkeley. Dr. Sederoff was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1995.
William W.Simpkins is associate professor of geology in the Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences at Iowa State University, Ames. Dr. Simpkins’s research interests are in the hydrogeology of till, agricultural water quality, hydrogeology of riparian zones and buffer strips, and isotope hydrology. He is the associate editor of Ground Water. Dr. Simpkins has been a research geologist with the Bureau of Economic Geology of the University of Texas at Austin where he studied the geomorphology and hydrology of high-level nuclear-waste disposal in salt in the Texas Panhandle. He also worked as research liaison between the Bureau of Economic Geology and the US Department of Energy Salt Respository Project Office in Columbus, Ohio. Dr. Simpkins’s educational background includes studies at the University of Wisconsin, where he received his PhD degree in geology and geophysics and two MS degrees—one in geology and geophysics, the other in water-resources
management. He received his BA degree in geology from Augustana College in Illinois.
Robert E.Smith is president of R E Smith Consulting, Inc., in Newport, Vermont. He has been president of the Institute of Food Technologists, senior vice president for corporate research at Nabisco, Inc., and senior vice president for research and development at Del Monte Corporation. His research focuses on the nutritional quality of human and pet foods, particularly protein and amino acid requirements and interrelationships. Dr. Smith received his PhD degree in animal science, with an emphasis on nutrition and biochemistry, from the University of Illinois. He received his MS and BS degrees in animal and poultry nutrition from McGill University.
Fredrick Stormshak is distinguished professor at Oregon State University. He holds joint appointments in the Department of Biochemistry/Biophysics and the College of Veterinary Medicine. He has been interim head of the Department of Animal Science and associate director of the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station. Dr. Stormshak’s research interests focus on various aspects of uterine and ovarian function in domestic animals. His laboratory contributed initial data demonstrating that ovarian hormones in cattle and sheep act locally to regulate uterine vascular function. He was one of the first researchers to quantify uterine estrogen receptors in sheep and mink and to conduct research on hormonal regulation of uterine steroid-receptor synthesis in these species. Dr. Stormshak is past president of the Society for the Study of Reproduction. He earned his PhD degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and his MS and BS degrees in dairy science from Washington State University.
Anne K.Vidaver is professor and head of the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. She also serves as director of the Center for Biotechnology at the university. Dr. Vidaver’s research interests focus on biology, genetics, and control of phytopathogenic bacteria; applications of endophytic bacteria; and research-policy issues, especially in the biologic sciences. Dr. Vidaver is associate editor of the World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology and special reviewer for Plant Disease and Phytopathology. She is a past member of the National Research Council Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources and of the US Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board. Dr. Vidaver studied bacteriology at Indiana University, where she received her PhD and MS degrees. She received her BA degree in biology from Russell Sage College.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS OF THE BOARD ON AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES
Policy and Resources
Genetically Modified Pest-Protected Plants: Science and Regulation (2000)
The Use of Drugs in Food Animals: Benefits and Risks (1999)
Ensuring Safe Food: From Production to Consumption (1998)
Agriculture’s Role in K-12 Education (1998)
Designing an Agricultural Genome Program (1998)
Brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Area (1997)
Forested Landscapes in Perspective: Prospects and Opportunities for Sustainable Management of America’s Nonfederal Forests (1997)
Precision Agriculture in the 21st Century: Geospatial and Information Technologies in Crop Management (1997)
Wood in Our Future: The Role of Life-Cycle Analysis (1997)
Colleges of Agriculture at the Land Grant Universities: Public Service and Public Policy (1996)
Ecologically Based Pest Management: New Solutions for a New Century (1996)
Colleges of Agriculture at the Land Grant Universities: A Profile (1995)
Investing in the National Research Initiative: An Update of the Competitive Grants Program in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (1994)
Rangeland Health: New Methods to Classify, Inventory, and Monitor Rangelands (1994)
Soil and Water Quality: An Agenda for Agriculture (1993)
Managing Global Genetic Resources: Agricultural Crop Issues and Policies (1993)
Site Visit Report of the Scientific Council to the Plant Gene Expression Center, Feb. 24–26, 1993 (1993)
Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children (1993)
Managing Global Genetic Resources: Livestock (1993)
Sustainable Agriculture and the Environment in the Humid Tropics (1993)
Agriculture and the Undergraduate: Proceedings (1992)
Water Transfers in the West: Efficiency, Equity, and the Environment (1992)
Managing Global Genetic Resources: Forest Trees (1991)
Managing Global Genetic Resources: The U.S. National Plant Germplasm System (1991)
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education in the Field: A Proceedings (1991)
Site Visit Report, Scientific Council to the Plant Gene Expression Center, August 30–31, 1991(1992)
Toward Sustainability: A Plan for Collaborative Research on Agriculture and Natural Resource Management (1991)
Wild Horse Populations: Field Studies in Genetics and Fertility (1991)
Site Visit Report, Scientific Council to the Plant Gene Expression Center, January 8–9, 1990 (1990)
Technology and Agricultural Policy: Proceedings of a Symposium (1990)
Publications of the Committee on Animal Nutrition, 1990–1998
Nutrient Requirements of Swine, Tenth Revised Edition (1998)
The Role of Chromium in Animal Nutrition (1997)
Nutrient Requirements of Beef Cattle, Seventh Rev. Ed. (1996)
Building a North American Feed Information System (1995)
Nutrient Requirements of Laboratory Animals, Fourth Rev. Ed. (1995)
Metabolic Modifiers: Effects on the Nutrient Requirements of Food-Producing Animals (1994)
Nutrient Requirements of Poultry, Ninth Rev. Ed. (1994)
Nutrient Requirements of Fish (1993)
