March 2, 2009

C-FAR Elects Leadership and Honors Members at Annual Meeting

SPRINGFIELD--The Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural Research (C-FAR) recently held its 2009 Annual Meeting of the Membership in Springfield. During the meeting, the C-FAR membership elected four individuals to serve on the 2009 Board of Directors: Jim Charlesworth (Bloomington), Jerry Hicks (Springfield), Blake Roderick (Pittsfield), and Byford Wood (Breese).  Roderick and Wood are newly-elected directors and Charlesworth and Hicks were re-elected to continue their service on the board. They are joined by Chuck Cawley (Rochelle), Wally Furrow (El Paso), and Steve Scates (Shawneetown). Nels Kasey (Paris) will serve on the board in 2009 as past-chairman. The board subsequently met and elected officers: Jerry Hicks, chairman; Jim Charlesworth, vice chair; and Wally Furrow, secretary/treasurer. Committee chairs and members will be appointed by the chairman at a later date.

“I am extremely honored to begin serving this organization as its chairman,” said Hicks. “It is the most unique organization I have had the pleasure of being associated with and I look forward to working with each of our members and partners. Together, we will meet and surpass the challenges before us, and I welcome the opportunity to help nurture this progress as chairman.”

A special luncheon ceremony was held to recognize long-standing members of C-FAR. Organizational, Affiliate, and Individual members were recognized for their commitment to and support of C-FAR. “Our honored members, individually and collectively, represent the core foundation for C-FAR’s past achievements and will be a nucleus for our future progress,” said Jim Charlesworth, vice chairman of the board and membership chair.

The C-FAR working groups elected to two-year terms, chairs, vice chairs, and representatives to the research committee. The elected working group chairs and vice chairs are:

Expanding Agricultural Markets
Heather Hampton+Knodle (Fillmore), chair and John Huston (Chicago), vice chair

Rural Economic Development
Norbert Soltwedel (Shumway), chair and Thomas Toohill (Springfield), vice chair

Agricultural Production Systems
Marla Behrends (Carlock), chair and Tim Maiers (Springfield), vice chair

Human Nutrition and Food Safety
Jim Fraley (Bloomington), chair and Karen Little (Pleasant Plains), vice chair

Natural Resources and Environment
Dennis Godar (Rochester), chair and Ed Ballard (Shelbyville), vice chair

The working groups also reviewed final reports for research projects that matured this past year and assessed the organization’s current research portfolio. C-FAR’s research portfolio is available on the organization’s website at www.ilcfar.org/research/pdfs/FY09_portfolio.pdf.

For more information on C-FAR and its research programs, visit www.ilcfar.org, send email to cfar@aces.illinois.edu or call 217.244.4232.

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