UT Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek has been elected chair of the board of the International Fertilizer Development Center, a global research effort to develop and commercialize clean, environmentally sustainable, cost-effective, and renewable fertilizers for the developing world.
He will serve a three-year term.
Cheek has served on the IFDC board of directors since June 2012. He takes the reins from Peter McPherson, president of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, who served as chair since 2004.
Cheek is also the immediate past chair of the board of advisors of the Virtual Fertilizer Research Center, an innovative global research initiative established under the auspices of IFDC. He remains on the VFRC board.
IFDC was established in 1974 as a center of excellence with expertise in fertilizers to service the needs of developing countries. A nonprofit public international organization, IFDC helps farmers in developing countries to increase agricultural productivity, generate economic growth, and practice environmental stewardship by working with them to responsibly manage mineral and organic fertilizers and participate profitably in input and output markets.
Headquartered in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the IFDC has offices in Washington, D.C., and across Africa and EurAsia. The organization collaborates with international agricultural research centers, national and nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector. Its board of directors includes members from developed and developing countries
For more about the organization, visit the IFDC website.
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C O N T A C T :
Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, ablakely@utk.edu)