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Administration >> Elsa A. Murano, Ph.D.

Elsa A. Murano, Ph.D.

Dr. Elsa A. Murano began serving as Vice Chancellor of Agriculture and Life Sciences for The Texas A&M University System in January 2005. As Vice Chancellor, she oversees Texas AgriLife Research, Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Texas Forest Service and the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, while also serving as Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University.

From October 2001 through 2004, Dr. Murano was Under Secretary for Food Safety with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as appointed by President George W. Bush. As the highest-ranking food safety official in the U.S. government, she provided oversight and direction for the 10,000 employees of the Food Safety and Inspection Service, working to improve public health through the application of science in policy decisions.

Prior to her USDA service, Dr. Murano was a Professor in the Department of Animal Science at Texas A&M University and holder of the Sadie Hatfield Professorship in Agriculture. She joined the Texas A&M faculty in 1995 and was Director of the Center for Food Safety within the Institute for Food Science and Engineering from 1997 to 2001, following her service as associate director from 1995 to 1997.

Dr. Murano was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Preventative Medicine at Iowa State University from 1990 until her appointment to the Texas A&M faculty. She received a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Florida International University, and earned both a master’s degree in anaerobic microbiology and a doctorate in food science and technology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She is a native of Havana, Cuba.

A noted expert on food safety, Dr. Murano was principal investigator or co-principal investigator in research projects totaling more than $8.7 million while a faculty member at Iowa State and Texas A&M universities. She has been widely published, as author or co-author of seven books, book chapters or monographs, and scores of scholarly papers, abstracts and related materials.

Vice Chancellor and Dean for Agriculture and Life Sciences
113 Jack K. Williams Administration Building
2142 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-2142
979-845-4747
979-862-1637
elsa.murano@tamu.edu