Former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has been named CEO of the World Food Prize Foundation to continue its legacy of promoting global food security and agricultural sustainability in line with the vision of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug.
Vilsack, who led USDA for 12 of the last 16 years, will leverage his diplomatic experience to expand the foundation’s global network while advancing the organization’s youth institute programming.
Vilsack told Agri-Pulse that leading the World Food Prize Foundation offers "an opportunity to elevate innovation, to be able to tell the story of agriculture globally, to celebrate that story, to highlight the real champions who are trying to address the one of the great challenges we face as humankind which is the issue of making sure that we can feed people."
He will assume the position on March 1.
Terry Branstad, a former Iowa governor and U.S. ambassador to China, is stepping down as the foundation's president. Mashal Husain, now the foundation's chief operating officer, will be promoted to president on Saturday. She has been with the organization since 2008.
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Vilsack has been a longtime advocate for nutrition assistance programs during his political career, which began as mayor of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, in 1987. He later served as a state senator before being elected governor of Iowa for two terms.
He briefly campaigned for the 2008 Democratic presidential bid before withdrawing from the race to support Barack Obama. 
Visack shakes hands with the Foundation's former leader Amb. Kenneth Quinn at a 2019 event.
“It’s an exciting opportunity for me to basically continue a lot of the work that I did as a secretary and, frankly, as governor of Iowa,” Vilsack said. “I think it's an opportunity as well for me to try to figure out ways in which I can lend my experience and the connections that I've had over the course of many, many years, to build support for the foundation's work.”
Vilsack spoke fondly of Borlaug when recounting their many interactions during his career, describing him as “extraordinarily humble” with a “basic faith and trust in farmers.”
Vilsack previously served on both the foundation’s board of directors and council of advisors.
Borlaug – known as the father of the Green Revolution – spent his career advocating that the key to ending hunger lay in equipping farmers with the knowledge and resources they needed to increase food production.
“I’m honored to carry on the legacy of not only Dr. Borlaug, but also figures like George Washington Carver and Kenneth Quinn who have shaped the Foundation’s incredible history,” Vilsack said. "It’s a privilege to help tell the story of agriculture and ensure its continued role in creating a more secure world."
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