Elsa Murano

Infobox University Chancellor
name = Elsa Murano


caption = President of Texas A&M University
order =
university = Texas A&M University
term_start = January 3, 2008
term_end = "present"
birth_date = August 14, 1959
birth_place = Havana, Cuba
predecessor = Robert Gates
successor =
alma_mater = Florida International (1981)
Virginia Tech (1987, 1990)
residence = College Station, Texas
profession =
salary =
spouse = Dr. Peter S. Murano
children =
website = http://www.tamu.edu/president
footnotes =|

Elsa Alina Murano (born August 14, 1959 in Havana, Cuba) [cite news|url=http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/12/08/1208headaggie.html|title=A&M set to name first female and Hispanic president|publisher="Austin American-Statesman"|accessdate=2008-02-29|date=2007-12-08|author=Haurwitz, Ralph K.M.] is the current and 23rd President of Texas A&M University. [cite news|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/010407dntexmurano.6eee430.html|title=Elsa Murano Becomes First Hispanic to Lead Texas A&M|publisher="Dallas Morning News"|accessdate=2008-01-03|date=2008-01-03|author=Associated Press] Prior to being elected president, she served as the vice chancellor and dean of Texas A&M's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences from 2005–07 and as the U.S. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety from 2001–04.cite news|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/education/stories/120807dnmetmurano.78ccba37.html|title=Texas A&M poised to name Elsa Murano as president|publisher="Dallas Morning News"|accessdate=2007-12-08|date=2007-12-07|author=Hacker, Holly]

Early life and education

Murano was born as Elsa Casales in Havana, Cuba in 1959. She fled Cuba with her family in July 1961, when her parents decided to leave during Fidel Castro's communist uprising.cite news|url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5383486.html|title=AN AMAZING JOURNEY FROM CUBA TO A&M|publisher="Houston Chronicle"|accessdate=2008-02-29|date=2007-12-18|author=Tresaugue, Matthew] The family fled to Curacao, and then moved to Colombia, where her father worked for IBM. She later lived in Peru and then El Salvador before moving to Puerto Rico to start kindergarten. Once her parents divorced, she moved with her mother and three siblings into an apartment in Miami, Florida in 1973. Although Murano spoke no English upon her arrival, she enrolled at Miami Coral Park High School. Her mother, who worked as a security guard and a department store clerk, urged the children to graduate high school and attend college. In 1977, Murano graduated from high school, and enrolled at Miami Dade College, a nearby junior college. After two years at Miami-Dade, she transferred to Florida International University, relying on loans and scholarships to handle tuition costs. She received her bachelor's degree in biological sciences from FIU in 1981. Though she planned on attending medical school, she was more interested in research, and decided to expand her educational background. She attended Virginia Tech to receive her master's degree in anaerobic microbiology in 1987, and then her doctorate in food science and technology in 1990.

Professorships and USDA Undersecretaryship

From 1990 to 1995, Murano served as an assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Preventative Medicine at Iowa State University. [cite news|url=http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/16097952.html|title=A&M President Honored By State Department|publisher=KBTX|accessdate=2008-02-29|date=2008-02-29] In 1995, she joined Texas A&M as an associate professor in the Department of Animal Science and as the associate director of the Center for Food Safety within the Institute for Food Science and Engineering. She later served as director of the center from 1997 to 2001. During this time, she became a full-time professor and the holder of the Sadie Hatfield Professorship in Agriculture.

In 2001, U.S. president George W. Bush appointed Murano as the Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the highest ranked food safety U.S. government official. As the under secretary, she oversaw Food Safety and Inspection Service policies, ensuring U.S. meat products are safe, wholesome, and correctly packaged. [cite web|url=http://www.nppc.org/wm/show.php?c=1&id=381|title=USDA’S ELSA MURANO RESIGNS FOR POST AT TEXAS A&M|publisher=National Pork Producers Council|accessdate=2008-03-30|date=2004-11-05] Over the years in her position, she oversaw dramatic decreases in the number of food recalls. Food recalls, which were rising since the mid-1990s, decreased from 113 in 2002 to less than 50 in 2004. [cite news|url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-12-29-food-year_x.htm|title=The food industry digests a challenging year|publisher="USA Today"|accessdate=2008-03-30|date=2004-12-29|author=Weise, Elizabeth] She served as the under secretary before resigning in November 2004 in order to return to Texas A&M. [cite press release|url=http://www.fsis.usda.gov/news/NR_110404_01/index.asp|title=Statement of Dr. Elsa Murano USDA Under Secretary For Food Safety|publisher=USDA|accessdate=2007-12-08|date=2004-11-04]

Return to Texas A&M

Murano returned to Texas A&M in January 2005, becoming the Vice Chancellor of Agricultural and Life Sciences of the Texas A&M University System, the Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the director of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.cite news|url=http://southwestfarmpress.com/news/041122-Murano-vice-chancellor/|title=Murano named vice chancellor at Texas A&M|publisher="Southwest Farm Press"|accessdate=2008-02-29|date=2004-11-22] In December 2007, after controversy regarding the way she was selected, she became the sole finalist for the Texas A&M presidency, which was previously held by Robert Gates, who vacated the position in 2006 to become the U.S. Secretary of Defense. [cite news|url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5362231.html|title=Murano set to be A&M's first female president|publisher="Houston Chronicle"|accessdate=2007-12-08|date=2007-12-08|author=Tresaugue, Matthew] An acting president was installed upon his departure. The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents voted 8–1 in support of her — the one opposing vote came from Gene Stallings, who voted for another unspecified candidate. Once Murano had taken full duties as president on January 3, 2008, [cite news|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2007/12/31/daily19.html?ana=from_rss|title=New president named at Texas A&M University|publisher="San Antonio Business Journal"|accessdate=2008-02-29|date=2008-01-03] she became the first female, the first Hispanic-American, and the first person under the age of 50 to serve in the position.

References

External links

* [http://www.tamu.edu/president/ Office of the President, Texas A&M University]