Joel G. Newman

Joel Newman, a visionary leader, accomplished many impactful advances in food safety and enhanced sustainability of animal food production throughout his 48-year career.

His values were shaped early on through achieving his Boy Scout Eagle award and his work on local farms, which ignited a passion for agriculture and food production. He later obtained a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science from West Virginia University and a Master of Business Administration in Finance from Syracuse University. He recently retired from the agribusiness and food industry, most recently serving as president and CEO of the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA).

Joel Newman is widely respected for his preeminent leadership of innovative and transformational change, nationally and internationally. He guided AFIA through the development and implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act in 2011, considered one of the most sweeping U.S. food industry reforms since the 1950s. Internationally, while serving on the U.S. delegation to the Codex Alimentarius Commission, he achieved multilateral consensus on several international food safety and trade standards that protect consumers and trade partners.

During his term as president of the International Feed Industry Federation, working with European partners, he participated in establishing the Global Feed Lifecycle Institute, which assesses the feed industry’s complete environmental impact from crop to feed, and is being put into practice by global companies to benchmark, measure and reduce their environmental emissions.

Newman remains actively involved in the ongoing research and development of sustainable animal agriculture practices, as well as the education and leadership for global implementation, through an advisory role with the University of California-Davis’s Clarity and Leadership for Environmental Awareness and Research (C L E A R) Center. This also entails using his expertise to broaden alliances and communicate with legislative and regulatory bodies, all sectors of the food industry, healthcare and consumers to keep them appraised of progress.

Among his many accomplishments, Joel Newman has served on the President’s Council on Food Safety, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Advisory Committee and is the only non-European to be granted a lifetime membership to the European Feed Industry Federation. He has also been invited to speak in numerous global forums.

In his retirement, he remains active with the WVU Davis College, as well as mentoring students and executives.