The FFAR Board of Directors includes 17 voting members, and five ex-officio members designated by Congress. FFAR’s non-voting ex officio members are the stewards of the Foundation's close partnerships with the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Specifically, these members provide insight into the federal research enterprise and ensure that FFAR’s work complements USDA and NSF research.
Mississippi State University President Mississippi State University President Mark Keenum chairs the FFAR Board of Directors.
Appointed Members
Dr. Kathryn Boor
Vice Chair
Ronald P. Lynch Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Cornell University
Dr. Doug Buhler
Director, MSU AgBioResearch and Assistant Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies
Michigan State University

Dr. Nancy Creamer
Distinguished Professor of Horticulture and Sustainable and Community-Based Food Systems
North Carolina State University
Dr. Rob Horsch
Past Deputy Director, Agricultural Research and Development
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Dr. Terry McElwain
Regents Professor Emeritus, Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health
Washington State University
Dr. Stanley Prusiner
Professor of Neurology and Director of the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases
University of California - SF
Dr. Yehia "Mo" Saif
Professor Emeritus of the Food Animal Health Research Program of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center
The Ohio State University
Dr. Alton Thompson
Executive Director
Association of Research Directors of 1890 Land Grant Universities
Ex Officio Board Members

Sonny Perdue
Secretary of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Dr. Joanne Tornow
Assistant Director (Acting) for Biological Sciences
Designee of Dr. France Córdova, Director
National Science Foundation
Scott Hutchins, Ph.D.
Deputy Under Secretary
United States Department of Agriculture Research, Education, and Economics Mission