Agriculture dean is sole finalist for Texas A&M presidency (Dec. 7, 2007, 5:48PM)

HOUSTON — Elsa Murano, who left her post as the nation's highest-ranking food safety official to become dean of Texas A&M University's agriculture school, was named the sole finalist for the campus' presidency on Friday.

Murano is set to become the first female and first Hispanic to lead the 131-year-old university, which was founded as an all-male military institution and didn't admit women on an equal basis to men until 1971.

The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents voted Friday to name Murano the lone finalist to succeed former president Robert Gates, who left in December to become the U.S. secretary of defense. By law, the regents must wait 21 days to officially appoint her to the position.

"We conducted a nationwide search to find the best candidate for the presidency of Texas A&M University, and we discovered that individual in our own backyard," board president Bill Jones said in a statement.

Murano, 48, also serves as the system's vice chancellor of agriculture.

She served as undersecretary for food safety at the U.S. Agriculture Department from 2001 to 2004, overseeing 10,000 employees and an annual budget of $905 million.

"I'm ecstatic," Murano said after the announcement. "I'm just in a cloud right now."

Gov. Rick Perry, a Texas A&M alumnus, credited Murano with revitalizing the agriculture program over her three-year tenure. According to the university, the school's undergraduate enrollment has increased over the past two years, following a sharp decline before her arrival.
In a statement, Perry said he is "excited an agriculture expert will lead the university for the first time in a long time, recognizing agriculture is vital to our future and not merely our past."
After fleeing her native Cuba as a child, Murano lived in several Latin American countries before her family settled in Miami.

She received a bachelor's degree in biological sciences from Florida International University and received a master's degree and doctorate from Virginia Tech University.

She began her academic career in 1981 as a research laboratory technician at Florida International. She joined Texas A&M's faculty in 1995, after spending five years as an assistant professor at Iowa State University.

She was director of the Center for Food Safety at Texas A&M when President Bush nominated her to oversee the Agriculture Department's food-safety programs.
Murano's nomination capped a contentious selection process that left some faculty members complaining that their opinions have been ignored by the board of regents.

Chancellor Michael McKinney appointed a 15-person committee of regents, administrators, students, alumni and community members to narrow the applicant field to three candidates.
The regents ultimately decided to interview other candidates, however, and told faculty members who complained that they have sole discretion in the issue.

Professor Doug Slack, who chaired the search committee, said that attitude has hurt relationships between the board and the university's faculty and staff. At the very least, he said, the committee should have been invited to interview Murano before she was named the finalist.
"The decision may have been the same at the end of the day but at least they would have more information to make a better decision," he said.