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Patrick J. Stover, Ph.D., is the vice chancellor and dean for agriculture and life sciences at Texas A&M AgriLife and director of Texas A&M AgriLife Research. As vice chancellor, Stover oversees coordination and collaboration of the agriculture, academic and research programs across The Texas A&M University System, as well as four state agencies: Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory and Texas A&M Forest Service. Stover is also director of AgriLife Research, where he oversees 13 research centers across the state with a research portfolio of more than 500 projects and $214.2M in annual research funding. As dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Stover leads more than 7,000 students and 330 faculty members in 15 academic departments.

Stover previously directed the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University. He received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Saint Joseph’s University, a doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biophysics from the Medical College of Virginia and completed his postdoctoral studies in nutritional sciences at the University of California, Berkeley.

An international leader in biochemistry and nutrition, Stover focuses his research on the biochemical, genetic and epigenetic mechanisms that underlie the relationships between folic acid and human pathologies such as developmental anomalies, neuropathies and cancer. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is also former president of the American Society for Nutrition and has served two terms on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Food and Nutrition Board.

Dr. Elizabeth Parker joined AgriLife Research in 2014 as chief veterinarian for the Institute for Infectious Animal Diseases, where her position included working with the AgriLife Research Director’s Office on funding requests and technical and operational responses. Since December 2017, Parker has served as the AgriLife Research international and strategic partnership specialist. With extensive Congressional, trade association and international experience, Parker built a distinguished career in agriculture policy prior to joining AgriLife. She worked on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture for Ranking Member Charlie Stenholm (D-TX) as the American Veterinary Medical Association’s American Association for the Advancement of Science 1999-2000 Congressional Fellow, then as professional staff for Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX) and Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA). Parker worked on resource mobilization, global disease strategies and policy for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Parker earned a bachelor’s in biomedical science in 1987, a bachelor’s in veterinary medicine in 1990 and a doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1993. After graduation, she worked in private veterinary practice in Texas for six years before relocating to Washington, D.C. and beginning her science and agriculture policy career.

Dr. David W. Ragsdale earned his bachelor's in biology in 1974, master's in entomology 1977, and his Ph.D. in entomology in 1980. He joined the Entomology Department at the University of Minnesota in July 1981 and rose to the rank of professor and served for two years as the interim department head (2009-2010).  In October 2010, Dr. Ragsdale relocated to Texas A&M University as professor and department head of Entomology.  His research focus is on vector ecology with an emphasis on aphid-transmitted plant viruses.  His most recent work centered on the management of the invasive soybean aphid, Aphis glycines and exotic insect that has cost US soybean producers more than $1B in losses and added management costs.  His lab worked on developing an economic threshold for soybean aphid, classical biological control which involved searching for natural enemies in northern China, Inner Mongolia, Korean and Japan.  He and his team collaborated with scientists across the United States and Canada to evaluate several breeding lines for aphid-resistance.  Aphid-resistant soybean varieties are now commercially available.  Dr. Ragsdale has led efforts to establish exotic insect herbivores to control invasive perennial weeds.  There has been widespread adoption of the management recommendations for soybean aphid and it was recently estimated that producers have prevented losses of more than $1.3B by using the team’s recommendations.  Dr. Ragsdale has published a total of 244 scientific communications including 104 peer-reviewed journal articles and editor reviewed contributions.  His work has been cited over 4,500 times.  Dr. Ragsdale served 6 years on the Governing Board of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) ending in 2018. Executive Assistant: Jackie Slovacek

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Email: David.Ragsdale@ag.tamu.edu

A public health scientist with expertise in community-based nutrition and physical activity intervention research, Dr. Rebecca Seguin-Fowler will provide administrative leadership for the organization’s social and behavioral intervention research initiative. She also will serve as the Healthy Texas community health research director, leading and fostering closer integration of AgriLife Research and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension efforts. Her current research focuses on understanding how people’s social, food and physical activity environments influence behavior change and maintenance—particularly in at-risk populations and settings, such as low-income families and rural communities. Combining her interests in behavioral theory, health communications and the context in which people develop, change, and maintain health behaviors, Seguin-Fowler has co-developed comprehensive curricula and trainings for evidence-based health promotion programs to benefit midlife and older women. To date, more than 4,000 health educators in 48 states have been trained to implement these community-based physical activity and nutrition programs in predominantly non-urban areas. Seguin-Fowler has secured more than $12M in competitive funding to support her research, with funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She has received numerous awards throughout her career including the Mead Johnson Award from the American Society for Nutrition, the Citation Abstract Excellence Award from the Society of Behavioral Medicine Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions, and a Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. A registered dietician, Seguin-Fowler received her bachelor’s degree in clinical exercise physiology from Boston University, and a master’s degree in nutrition communication and a doctorate in food policy and applied nutrition from Tufts University in Boston.