USDA research leader gets first-hand look at MSU research capabilities

Contact: James Carskadon

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Chavonda Jacobs-Young, administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), visited Mississippi State University Tuesday [Dec. 12] to tour the land-grant institution’s advanced research facilities.

Jacobs-Young met with university agricultural research leaders and MSU President Mark E. Keenum during her visit to Starkville. She also visited the College of Veterinary Medicine, High Performance Computing Collaboratory and the H.H. Leveck Animal Research Center, also known as “South Farm.”

“MSU has maintained a wonderful working relationship with the Agricultural Research Service at USDA for decades,” Keenum said. “We are truly honored to have the administrator of ARS here on our campus to tour our facilities, to see first-hand a lot of the important research that we’re doing for not only our state and our nation, but globally. It is indeed a distinguished honor to be able to host her and her distinguished delegation at Mississippi State.”

As ARS administrator, Jacobs-Young is responsible for leading the organization’s chief scientific in-house research agency, a position she has held since 2014. Previously, Jacobs-Young had served as ARS associate administrator for national programs, where she led the Office of National Programs, which manages the agency’s research objectives, and the Office of International Research Programs, which is responsible for ARS’ liaison with its international partners. The Georgia native holds a master’s and doctoral degree from North Carolina State University.

MSU is a significant higher education research partner of the USDA. According to a National Science Foundation analysis of federally financed higher education research and development expenditures, MSU was among the top 20 colleges and universities receiving USDA research funding in fiscal year 2016. Keenum, who has made global food security a research priority during his tenure at MSU, also chairs the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research Board of Directors, which receives support from the USDA. Jacobs-Young also serves on the FFAR Board of Directors.

“I’ve known Dr. Jacobs-Young for quite a number of years and I have immense respect for her as a scientist, an administrator and a leader of agriculture research,” Keenum said.

The ARS finds solutions to agricultural problems that affect Americans every day from field to table. For more, visit www.ars.usda.gov.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.