Elsa A. Murano
| Elsa Murano | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 23rd President of Texas A&M University | |
|
In office January 3, 2008 – June 15, 2009 |
|
| Preceded by | Ed J. Davis (Acting) |
| Succeeded by | R. Bowen Loftin |
| Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety | |
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In office October 2001 – December 1, 2004 |
|
| President | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Catherine Woteki |
| Succeeded by | Merle Pierson (Acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Elsa Alina Casales August 14, 1959 Havana, Cuba |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Peter Murano |
| Alma mater |
Miami Dade College Florida International University (BS) Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (MS, PhD) |
Elsa Alina Murano (born August 14, 1959) is the former President of Texas A&M University. On June 14, 2009, Murano resigned as president of the university, effective June 15, 2009.
Prior to being elected president in 2008, she served as the vice chancellor and dean of Texas A&M's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences from 2005–07 and as the U.S. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety from 2001–04. In 2006 she joined the Board of Directors at Hormel Foods, where her 2010 compensation was $192,920.
Murano was born as Elsa Alina Casales in 1959 in Havana, Cuba. She fled Cuba with her family in July 1961, when her parents decided to leave during Fidel Castro's communist uprising. The family fled to Curaçao, and then moved to Colombia, where her father worked for IBM. She later lived in Peru and then El Salvador before moving to Puerto Rico to start kindergarten. Once her parents divorced, she moved with her mother and three siblings into an apartment in Miami, Florida in 1973. Although Murano spoke no English upon her arrival, she enrolled at Miami Coral Park High School. Her mother, who worked as a security guard and a department store clerk, urged the children to graduate high school and attend college. In 1977, Murano graduated from high school, and enrolled at Miami Dade College, a nearby junior college. After two years at Miami-Dade, she transferred to Florida International University, relying on loans and scholarships to handle tuition costs. She received her bachelor's degree in biological sciences from FIU in 1981. Though she planned on attending medical school, she was more interested in research, and decided to expand her educational background. She attended Virginia Tech to receive her master's degree in anaerobic microbiology in 1987, and then her doctorate in food science and technology in 1990.
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