Elmira Mangum, Ph.D, chosen to serve on U.S. Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee for Trade
IN RECENT agricultural news, the president of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), Elmira Mangum, Ph.D, will be serving on the country’s Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee (APAC) for Trade. Selected by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack via a national competitive process, Mangum will serve on a committee that helps “ensure that U.S. trade policy and negotiation objectives adequately reflect U.S. commercial and economic interests.”
In a recent FAMU statement, the committee is described as one that “advises and makes recommendations to the Secretary of Agriculture and the U.S. Trade Representative concerning the trade policy of the United States and the matters arising in the course of administering that policy. APAC also provides information and advice regarding the negotiating objectives and bargaining positions of the United States before our nation enters into trade agreements.”
With 39 members total, the APAC for Trade committee consists of the “who’s who” of agribusinesses across the U.S., along with one other university administrator (besides Mangum), who is Won Koo, Ph.D., director of the Center for Agricultural Policy and Trade Studies (CAPTS) at North Dakota State University.
In an official statement, President Mangum described FAMU’s essential role in the future of the agriculture industry: “The University is poised to help provide new and innovative solutions to food production, food safety and security concerns, and the promotion of sustainable farming. Our research programs and research centers contribute to the advancement of new knowledge and scientific discoveries that have national and international implications through a variety of initiatives.”
Congrats to President Mangum and her election to the APAC for Trade Committee. We here at Central Florida Ag News look forward to keeping you updated on more developments coming out of our agricultural institutions that will benefit the present and future of the industry.
CREDIT
column by CELESTE JO WALLS
Celeste Jo Walls is managing editor of Central Florida Ag News. She may be reached by e-mail at celeste.walls@centralfloridamediagroup.com.