30 Facts About Elsa Murano

In 2006, Elsa Murano joined the board of directors at Hormel Foods.

Elsa Murano Alina Casales de la Caridad was born August 14,1959, in Havana, Cuba, eight months after the end of the Cuban Revolution.

Elsa Murano's family fled Cuba on July 4,1961, moving first to Curacao and later to Colombia, where her father worked for IBM.

Elsa Murano's mother, employed as a security guard and department store clerk, emphasized the importance of education, encouraging her children to graduate high school, attend college, and capitalize on the opportunities available in their adopted homeland.

Elsa Murano completed her bachelor's degree in biological sciences at FIU in 1981.

Originally intending to pursue a career in medicine as a pre-med Biology major, Elsa Murano developed a keen interest in research after participating in a project exploring the potential of CBD and THC extracts in preventing tumor formation in predisposed mice.

Elsa Murano's studies focused on the role of bacterial cell walls in stimulating the immune system for tumor prevention.

Elsa Murano furthered her academic journey by earning a doctorate n food science and technology in 1990, specializing in food safety.

Elsa Murano later served as the Director of the center from 1997 to 2001.

In recognition of her leadership in research, administration, and education, Elsa Murano was promoted to Full Professor and awarded the Sadie Hatfield Endowed Professorship in Agriculture.

Elsa Murano oversaw Food Safety and Inspection Service policies, ensuring that US meat products met safety, wholesomeness, and packaging standards.

Once Elsa Murano had taken full duties as president on January 3,2008, she became the first female, the first Hispanic-American, and the first person under the age of 50 to serve in the position.

When Elsa Murano became President, she met with the architects and developers, and earned that the job might require different plans than had been presented to the students a year before by the previous administration.

President Elsa Murano's plan was implemented and the MSC was fully renovated ahead of schedule and at a lower cost than anticipated.

Elsa Murano argued that McKinney seemed to have hidden agendas and that his style was as far from shared governance as one can fathom.

Many senators said that Elsa Murano was obviously being punished because she defended the viewpoint of the faculty with regard to the programs that McKinney was clearly forcing into existence for his own political gain, as well as for defending the integrity of the University's mission to her superiors.

In 2012, Professor Elsa Murano was asked to serve as Director of the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture by then Vice Chancellor and Dean of Agriculture Mark Hussey.

Elsa Murano served in this position until September of 2021, when she was asked to temporarily serve as Associate Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives by then Vice Chancellor and Dean Patrick Stover.

In that role, Elsa Murano spear-headed several projects, including the re-establishment of a process for faculty involvement in the preparation of initiatives for submission as part of the Congressional Community Projects Program, as well as a major proposal submitted to USDA for funding on climate-smart agriculture strategies.

Elsa Murano assembled the team of faculty, providing them guidance and support.

Elsa Murano appointed Julie Howe as the Principal Investigator, culminating in a $65M award.

In 2005, Elsa Murano was awarded the "American By Choice" Award by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services of the Department of Homeland Security, along with Nobel Prize Laureate Eli Wiesel.

In 2008, along with Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Elsa Murano was inducted into the Texas Woman of the Year Hall of Fame.

Elsa Murano has been named Outstanding Alumna of all three of the institutions where she earned her degrees.

In 2009, Elsa Murano was inducted into the Miami-Dade College Alumni Hall of Fame, where she had earned an Associate of Arts degree in 1979.

Elsa Murano was elected Chair in 2021, and has been extended to serve until 2024.

Evident of her standing in the field of food safety, agriculture, as well as in academia and government service, Elsa Murano was asked to serve on an advisory committee to NASA's Food Production Laboratory to help identify issues to be considered in developing foods for long-term missions to Mars.

In 2018, Elsa Murano was named "Maestro of Community Service" by Latino Leaders Magazine's Maestro Awards, and selected as Women Inc Magazine's "One of the Most Influential Corporate Board Directors".

In 2019, in recognition of her many accomplishments as Undersecretary, Elsa Murano was inducted into the Meat Industry Hall of Fame.

In 2020, Elsa Murano was appointed to the Council of Advisors to the Director General of the Interamerican Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture, as a member of the Steering Committee for the Global Confederation of Higher Education Associations for Agricultural and Life Sciences, and as a member of the Council of Advisors to the World Food Prize Foundation, considered to be the "Nobel prize" of agriculture.