Prairie View--(October 16, 2018)—Prairie View A&M University answers the call to find a cure for a real-world problem: food insecurity. World Food Day at PVAMU will feature Dr. Deland J. Myers Sr. Endowed Professor of Food Systems at PV. Dr. Myers was awarded a 5.3 million dollar grant from the Texas A&M Chancellors Research Initiative to found the Integrated Food Security Research Center (IFSRC) for the purpose of establishing a center with a focused research, academic, and outreach effort to study the causes of food insecurity, the impacts of this issue, and finding ways to alleviate food insecurity in communities.

Food Security is an issue that affects persons on a national and international scale. World-wide, it has been estimated that 1 out of 9 persons are food insecure. Compared to the national average, the state of Texas ranked among the highest rates of food insecurity in the Unites States at about 14% in 2017. In 2015, a study indicated that 3 counties in the State of Texas; Harris, Dallas, and Tarrant, ranked nos. 4th, 6th, and 10th respectively in the United States in the number of food insecure persons. A further examination of the food insecurity data from the USDA showed that demographically, African Americans (22.5%) followed by Hispanics (18%) had the highest levels of food insecurity in the United States. Given the demographics of food insecurity, the history Prairie View A&M University and the mission of the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences, this campus has the historical and mission obligated duty to address issues related to food insecurity as many of our stakeholders are directly affected by this condition.

This presentation will discuss the importance of the IFSRC to Prairie View A&M University and the vision of how this Center can advance our research, teaching, and outreach efforts in the study of the causes, impacts, and finding ways to alleviate food insecurity not only for the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences but the entire University.

Date: Tuesday, October 16, 2018 Time: 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Location: PVAMU Main Campus, Prairie View, TX

Dr. Deland J. Myers Sr. Bio

Dr. Deland J. Myers Sr. is the Endowed Professor of Food Systems at Prairie View A&M University; a position he has held since August of 2015. In 2018 he was awarded a 5.3 million dollar grant from the Texas A&M Chancellors Research Initiative to found the Integrated Food Security Research Center on the campus of Prairie View A&M University for the purpose of establishing a center with a focused research, academic, and outreach effort to understand the causes and impacts of food insecurity on communities and to find ways to alleviate food insecurity in these communities. He has a B.S. degree in Biology from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and both a Master's and Ph.D. in Food Technology from Iowa State University. He has worked for the Pillsbury Company in Minneapolis, as a faculty member at Iowa State University (ISU,) where he served as a faculty member in the Food Science and Human Nutrition Department. His research focused primarily on the utilization of corn and soy proteins in food and non-food applications. He is considered one of the world’s authorities on the nonfood uses of proteins and has written a number of articles and book chapters on this subject and has two patents on the use of soy proteins as an adhesive. He has also been active in a number of professional associations.

Dr. Gerard D’Souza Bio

The College of Agriculture and Human Sciences (CAHS) new dean and director of land-grant programs, Gerard D’Souza, officially assumed leadership July 1st 2018. D’Souza completed his Ph.D. at Mississippi State University. His research emphasizes sustainable development with an emphasis on the role of niche agricultural products within the context of natural, financial, and human capital development at various levels, from local to international. He has also served as a Faculty Research Associate at West Virginia University’s Regional Research Institute. D’Souza was a Fulbright Scholar in Paraguay, a visiting scholar in Costa Rica and at the Wallace Institute, Greenbelt, MD, and had sabbatical appointments at universities in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. As an economist, D’Souza has been the PI or co-PI on grants totaling over $5 million from agencies including USDA; National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; USAID; and the Benedum

Foundation. He has authored or co-authored around 150 scholarly works including books, book chapters and book reviews, journal articles, conference and working papers.