Elsa Murano

Elsa Alina Murano (born Elsa Alina Casales; August 14, 1959) has been the Director of the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture & Development at Texas A&M University's Agriculture & Life Sciences program since 2012.

Elsa Alina Casales de la Caridad was born August 14, 1959, in Havana, Cuba, eight months after the end of the Cuban Revolution.

Her family fled Cuba on July 4, 1961, moving first to Curaçao and later to Colombia, where her father worked for IBM.

Subsequently, they moved to Peru and El Salvador before settling in Puerto Rico where Elsa began kindergarten.

Following her parents divorce in 1973, Elsa relocated with her mother and three siblings in Miami, Florida.

Despite speaking little English upon arrival, she quickly attained fluency and enrolled at West Miami Junior High School.

Her mother, employed as a security guard and department store clerk, emphasized the importance of education, encouraging her children to graduate high school, attend college, and capitalize on the opportunities available in their adopted homeland.

Elsa excelled academically, graduating in the top 10% of her class from Coral Park Senior High School in 1977.

Subsequently, she enrolled full-time at Miami Dade College, a local junior college, while working 30 hours a week at Kelly Tractor Company in the Service Department.

After earning her associate degree from Miami-Dade, she transferred to Florida International University (FIU), supporting her education through loans and scholarships.

Elsa completed her bachelor's degree in biological sciences at FIU in 1981.

Originally intending to pursue a career in medicine as a pre-med Biology major, Elsa developed a keen interest in research after participating in a project exploring the potential of CBD and THC extracts in preventing tumor formation in predisposed mice.

During her time in graduate school in 1985, she married Peter Murano, a fellow student she had met at FIU.

Peter later became a professor of Nutrition and Food Science at Texas A&M University and served as Deputy Administrator of Food and Nutrition Service at USDA.

In his role, he oversaw the National School Lunch Program, WIC, and other initiatives under President George W. Bush's administration.

This shift in interest led her to enroll in the graduate program at Virginia Tech where she received a master's degree in anaerobic microbiology in 1987.

Her studies focused on the role of bacterial cell walls in stimulating the immune system for tumor prevention.

Elsa furthered her academic journey by earning a doctorate in food science and technology in 1990, specializing in food safety.

From 1990 to 1995, Elsa Alina Murano served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Preventive Medicine at Iowa State University.

Concurrently, she held the position of Researcher-in-Charge at the Food Irradiation Facility.

Murano was granted tenure at Iowa State in less than five years.

Murano was subsequently recruited by Texas A&M University, where she served as Associate Professor of Food Science & Technology in the Department of Animal Science and Associate Director of the Center for Food Safety within the Institute for Food Science and Engineering.

Under Murano's leadership, the number of food recalls—which had been increasing since the mid-1990s—decreased by over 50%, dropping from 113 in 2002 to fewer than 50 in 2004.

She later served as the Director of the center from 1997 to 2001.

In this role, she facilitated the establishment of a cutting-edge electron beam food irradiation facility on campus in collaboration with Surebeam, a facility that continues to operate to this day..

In recognition of her leadership in research, administration, and education, Murano was promoted to Full Professor and awarded the Sadie Hatfield Endowed Professorship in Agriculture.In 2001, President George W. Bush acknowledging Murano's expertise in her field, appointed her as the Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

As the highest-ranking U.S. official for food safety, she represented U.S. food safety policy in international standard-setting organizations, such as the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

Murano oversaw Food Safety and Inspection Service policies, ensuring that U.S. meat products met safety, wholesomeness, and packaging standards.

In January 2005, Dr. Murano made her return to Texas A&M University, making history as the first woman and first Hispanic to hold the position of Vice Chancellor of Agricultural and Life Sciences in the Texas A&M University System.

Additionally, she took on the roles of Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Director of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.

In these positions, Dr. Murano executed a series of substantial changes that revitalized the university: she halted the declining trend in student enrollment within the College of Agriculture, procured over $40 million for a bio-fuels research initiative from private sources, raised legislative appropriations by 26%, and secured $50 million from the Texas A&M System to construct a new Agriculture Headquarters Complex.

In 2006, Murano joined the board of directors at Hormel Foods.

She was the 23rd President of Texas A&M University from January 3, 2008, until her effective resignation on June 15, 2009.

During August 2021 to June 2022, she temporarily stepped away from the Institute to assume the role of Associate Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives at Texas A&M's Agriculture & Life Sciences Program, where she focused on federal initiatives engagement.

Before her current directorship at the Institute, Murano held multiple key positions.

She was the President of Texas A&M University from 2008 to 2009, the Vice Chancellor and Dean of Texas A&M's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences from 2005 to 2007, and the U.S. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety from 2001 to 2004.

Significantly, the rate of illnesses caused by E. coli O157:H7 decreased by 42%, meeting the CDC's Healthy People 2010 Goals for foodborne illnesses due to this organism six years ahead of schedule.

Moreover, Murano introduced regulations that effectively controlled contamination of meat products with Listeria monocytogenes.

After the first case of mad cow disease was detected in the U.S., Murano and her team at the Food Safety and Inspection Service swiftly developed regulations that successfully prevented it from entering the food supply..

At the end of President Bush's first term in office, Murano returned to Texas A&M University, where she assumed the position of Vice Chancellor and Dean of Agriculture & Life Sciences.