| USDA
Undersecretary for Food Safety Dr. Elsa Murano was selected
the lone finalist for the top agriculture position of The
Texas A&M University System during a special Board of
Regents telephone conference Wednesday.
Murano, 45, is in line for the position of vice chancellor
and dean of agriculture and life sciences and director of
the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. By state law,
the regents can't fill the position until 21 days after
finalists are announced. Murano would replace Dr. Ed Hiler,
who retired Aug. 31, but agreed to remain in the position
until his successor takes office.
An FSIS spokesperson told Meatingplace.com that Murano would
not comment on her plans.
According to Lowry Mays, chairman of the Texas A&M System
Board of Regents, Murano was unanimously selected for the
position during a vote by the board in public session. "It
will be great to have Dr. Murano return to A&M and lead
our agriculture program," Mays added. The Cuban-born Murano
was a professor in the department of animal science at Texas
A&M prior to her 2001 appointment as undersecretary.
She joined the Texas A&M faculty in 1995 and was director
of its Institute for Food Science and Engineering-Center
for Food Safety from 1997 to 2001.
Dr. G. Kemble Bennett, vice chancellor and dean of engineering
with Texas A&M said Murano was selected as finalist
after a search advisory committee he chaired performed "an
exhaustive review of the country's finest agricultural leaders."
In a recent interview with Meat Marketing & Technology
, to be published later this month, Murano acknowledged
that 2002 was a particularly difficult year for USDA – "a
perfect storm" – due to the spike in pathogen-related product
recalls during that period.
She also credited science-based initiatives with the dramatic
turnaround in recalls during 2003 and 2004, while expressing
confidence that future initiatives, including inspector
training and enhanced data integration, would yield similar
results.
When asked whether it's more difficult to disseminate good
news than bad, Murano smiled and said, "It's extremely hard.
Extremely."
Murano was assistant professor in the department of microbiology,
immunology and preventive medicine at Iowa State University
from 1990 to 95. She holds a bachelor's in biological sciences
from Florida International University. She earned a master's
in anaerobic microbiology and doctorate in food science
and technology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1987
and 1990, respectively.
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