According to Fox19, Tom Vilsack '72 spoke at a National Press Club luncheon on June 13, 2011, in advance of the G-20 Summit of Agricultural Ministers in Paris on June 23. The June 23 summit will be the first meeting of the G-20 agriculture ministers. The National Press Club was founded in 1908 and is the world's leading professional organization for journalists with more than 3,400 members worldwide. Vilsack was scheduled to explain why the efforts of U.S. scientists, farmers, and policy-makers are essential to feeding a growing global population, as well as address what he says are misconceptions about the production of U.S. biofuels and the impact of rising commodity and food prices.
Vilsack became the 30th Secretary of Agriculture on Jan. 21, 2009, after serving as governor of Iowa for two terms. As Secretary of Agriculture, he advocates for greater funding for child nutrition programs, research into childhood obesity, revitalizing rural American communities with infrastructure enhancements and implementing new strategies to restore U.S. forests and water supplies. He began his political career as the mayor of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa in 1987 and also served in the Iowa state senate.
Vilsack graduated from Hamilton with a bachelor's in history and earned his juris doctor from Albany Law School in 1975. He is married to Christine Bell Vilsack K '72.
