CFAES dean appointed to Council for Agricultural Science and Technology board of trustees

COLUMBUS, Ohio—Cathann A. Kress, vice president of agricultural administration and dean of The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), has been appointed to the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) board of trustees.

Kress will begin her three-year renewable term on the CAST board on Aug. 1.

“I look forward to serving in this role and advancing the understanding of the science and technology that are critical to our modern food and agricultural industries,” said Kress.

Established in 1972 as a result of a 1970 meeting sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, CAST is based in Iowa and is an international consortium of scientific and professional societies, companies, and nonprofit organizations. Through its network of experts, CAST assembles, interprets, and communicates credible, balanced, science-based information to policymakers, the media, the private sector, and the public.

The CAST board of trustees, which is composed of 11 members and serves as an advisory board to the CAST board of directors, meets at least four times a year to review and discuss project and publication proposals from three CAST work groups (food, plant, and animal) and to prioritize them based on the likely impact of the publication and its potential to increase scientific knowledge surrounding a challenge facing policymakers and society in general.

The board also provides valuable input on the future direction and opportunities the organization should pursue to remain relevant to the food and agriculture sectors and related sciences, said Kent G. Schescke, CAST executive vice president and CEO.

“We are very pleased that Dr. Cathann Kress has accepted an invitation to join the CAST board of trustees,” Schescke said. “Dr. Kress is a well-respected leader of the agricultural academic community. We look forward to her service, advice, and guidance to further the science communications work of CAST.”

Kress is also a trustee of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and serves on the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board, the Ohio Expositions Commission, and the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio board of trustees. Kress has previously served on the National 4-H Council Board and as the chair of the Administrative Heads Section of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities’ Board on Agriculture Assembly.