Biography

Kathryn J. Boor

Dean of the Graduate School and Vice Provost for Graduate Education at Cornell University

Business Experience

Ms. Boor is the Dean of the Graduate School and Vice Provost for Graduate Education at Cornell University. Serving in this role since 2020, Ms. Boor is the chief academic and administrative officer for Cornell’s Graduate School, where she is responsible for oversight of more than eighty graduate fields populated by more than 5,000 research Masters, Ph.D., and professional degree students. From 2010 until 2020, she served as the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University; Cornell’s second largest college with an annual operating budget of ~$500 million. Ms. Boor also served as Chair of the Food Science Department from 2007 until 2010, and as a Food Science professor, leading active research laboratories from 1994 until 2020, garnering millions of dollars in competitive funding from the National Institutes of Health, the USDA, and the US Sea Grant program, among others.

Education

Ms. Boor earned a B.S. in Food Science from Cornell University, an M.S. in Food Science from the University of Wisconsin and a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of California, Davis.

Qualifications

Ms. Boor brings to the Board extensive knowledge of food and beverage science, including expertise in molecular biology, food safety and quality. Until assuming her current role in October 2020, Ms. Boor was responsible for developing and implementing the strategic direction of Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Science and made important contributions in food and beverage research.

Public Board Memberships

  • Seneca Foods Corporation, a food processing company
  • Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that develops drugs to treat life-threatening diseases

Additional Accomplishments and Memberships

  • Board Member, US-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund
  • USAID Feed the Future, Chair, Food Safety Innovation Lab Advisory Committee
  • Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • Fellow, Institute of Food Technologists
  • Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology
  • Fellow, International Academy of Food Science and Technology