UNITED STATES
PROFESSOR OF FOOD SCIENCE AND HUMAN NUTRITION, IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY •
VISITING DISTINGUISHED INSTITUTE PROFESSOR, BIOCOMPLEXITY INSTITUTE, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA •
PRESIDENT, CHARLES VALENTINE RILEY MEMORIAL FOUNDATION
Dr. Catherine E. Woteki is a visiting Distinguished Institute Professor with the Biocomplexity Institute at the University of Virginia. Dr. Woteki is a well-respected scholar and a leader in science policy. She is known nationally and internationally for her wealth of knowledge of agriculture, food, nutrition and health from her years of leadership in government, industry and academia. She also is currently a Professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Iowa State University where she served as Dean of the College of Agriculture from 2002 to 2005.
Dr. Woteki was Undersecretary for United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Research, Education, and Economics (REE) mission area, as well as the department’s chief scientist from 2010 to 2016. Her responsibilities included oversight of the four agencies that comprise REE, the Agricultural Research Service, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Economic Research Service, and National Agricultural Statistics Service, as well as the National Agriculture Library and National Arboretum.
She has held other prestigious positions, including Deputy Associate Director for Science in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) from 1994 to 1996. At OSTP, she co-authored the Clinton Administration’s policy statement, Science in the National Interest. She also served as the first Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety during the Clinton Administration, 1997-2001.
Dr. Woteki was director of the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences from 1990 to 1993. During her tenure as director of the Food and Nutrition Board, she had direct responsibility for 27 studies and co-edited a nutrition book entitled Eat for Life, which became a Book-of-the-Month-Club selection. She has also held positions in the National Center for Health Statistics from 1983 to 1990 and the Human Nutrition Information Service at USDA from 1981 to 1983.
Dr. Woteki is the recipient of many awards for her contributions to science and society, and was inducted into the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA, Hall of Fame in 2017.