Contact: Joe Farris
Marty Fuller
A longtime Mississippi State administrator is being named to the new position of director of federal relations.
Marty Fuller will coordinate the university's efforts to secure federal funding for research and other initiatives. Formerly associate director of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, he assumed the new role Oct. 20.
In addition to serving as the university's primary liaison with Congress and federal agencies, he now will assist the university in developing initiatives that link federal priorities and institutional goals.
"Federal funding for research and other initiatives is becoming more important to Mississippi State as we develop programs that strengthen and diversify the state's economy, attract outstanding faculty and graduate students, and raise the stature of the institution," said President Charles Lee.
"At the same time, we face growing challenges in securing federal funds as a result of deficit budgets, competing national priorities, changes in the role of the Congressional delegation, and intense competition for agency funding," Lee said.
The federal relations officer reports to the president, with day-to-day activities directed by the vice presidents for Research and for Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine.
"Having a campus-based federal relations officer will allow us to more actively market our capabilities and expertise to decision-makers in Congress and in funding agencies," said Jonathan Pote, interim vice president for research. "We also will broaden the categories in which we seek federal support to include pedagogy, student life, outreach, and facilities, as well as research."
Fuller will work closely with the state government relations officer to ensure coordination of federal and state initiatives. In addition, he will coordinate with representatives of national higher education advocacy groups on matters affecting Mississippi State and higher education in general.
Fuller has served as associate director of MAFES for the past three years and as assistant director for two years before that. In both positions, his duties included federal relations.
During four years as the experiment station's coordinator of special research initiatives, he worked in both federal and state government and industry relations and was responsible for research planning and budgeting for a large, interdisciplinary research program on kenaf, an alternative crop that offers the potential for a variety of commercial applications.
Fuller, a Ripley native reared in Starkville, was an MSU faculty member from 1984 to 1997 in the agricultural economics department, where he won awards for teaching and produced numerous research publications. He holds bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in agricultural economics from Mississippi State.