Former U.S. agriculture secretary and Iowa governor Tom Vilsack will speak at Iowa State

AMES, Iowa – Tom Vilsack is returning to Iowa State University this fall to discuss recent developments in U.S. trade relations and foreign policy and their effect on U.S. agricultural markets and practices.

Vilsack’s lecture, “Trade Relations and U.S. Agriculture,” will be at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 4, in the Memorial Union Great Hall. This public lecture is free.

Vilsack was Iowa’s governor from 1999 to 2007. He then served as secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture for eight years in the Obama administration. He is currently president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, a nonprofit representing the global trade interests of U.S. dairy producers. Vilsack oversees the council’s global promotional and research activities, regulatory affairs and trade policy initiatives.

As the agriculture secretary, Vilsack not only worked to strengthen rural U.S. communities and ensure a safe, sufficient and nutritious food supply, but to expand markets abroad.

He has been honored for his public service and work to advance American agriculture by the Congressional Hunger Center, National Corn Growers Association, American Farm Bureau and National Farmers Union.

This lecture is part of the Technology, Globalization and Culture series, a cross-disciplinary course that features practicing professionals and on- and off-campus specialists examining issues of globalization and the opportunities and risks inherent to the globalization process.

It is co-sponsored by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, College of Engineering, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the Committee on Lectures, which is funded by Student Government.

Find more information about ISU lectures online or by calling 515-294-9934.