Rich Rominger

Biography

Mr. Rominger joined the MBI Board of Directors in 2007 and served as the Chair of the Board from 2007-2013. Mr. Rominger is an icon in California’s agricultural community and is recognized as a leader in bipartisan efforts to keep American agriculture healthy and sustainable. Active in farm organizations and cooperatives, Rominger served as Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture for eight years during the Clinton Administration, where he worked to improve farm policy, including the establishment of the National Organic Standards. Prior to his term in Washington, DC, he was Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture for six years. He currently serves on the University of California (UC) President’s Advisory Commission on Agriculture and Natural Resources, and recently completed a term on the Board of Regents of the University of California representing alumni. He is on the board of directors of the respected American Farmland Trust, the Roots of Change Council, and the Ag Innovations Network, founded to support the emergence of a sustainable food system. Rich received a Bachelor of Science Degree (summa cum laude) in plant science from UC Davis, where he met his wife Evelyne, and is a member of the agricultural honorary society of Alpha Zeta.

Research Interest

Molecular Biology and Molecular Genetics