The president of Mississippi State University, Mark Keenum, is President Trump’s choice to become chairman of a USAID advisory group, the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development, said the White House. Keenum was the No. 3 Agriculture Department official during the George W. Bush era, overseeing U.S. farm subsidies, ag exports and foreign food aid before becoming university president in his home state in 2009.
Keenum would chair the advisory board for a term ending July 2020. The White House said Trump also intended to appoint Richard Lackey, founder of the World Food Bank, to the food and agricultural development board. It would be the second USDAID connection for Lackey, who was appointed in March to the USAID Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid.
The seven-member food and agricultural board “advises USAID on agriculture and higher education issues pertinent to food insecurity in developing countries. The president appoints members, who primarily represent the academic community,” says USAID. The panel is a recognition of “the critical role of U.S. land-grant institutions in agricultural development, domestically and abroad and support their representation in USAID development programs.”
A graduate of Mississippi State with degrees in agricultural economics, Keenum began his career as an MSU faculty member. He was chief of staff for Sen. Thad Cochran, a Mississippi Republican, before being appointed USDA undersecretary in 2006.