Attached files
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| 8-K - FEDERAL AGRICULTURAL MORTGAGE CORP | v198022_8-k.htm |
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NEWS
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FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
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CONTACT
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September
30, 2010
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Chris
Bohanon
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202-872-5542
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Farmer
Mac Announces Two New Presidentially
Appointed
Directors and Chairman of the Board
Washington, D.C. —The Federal
Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac; NYSE: AGM and AGM.A) today
announced that Sara L. Faivre-Davis of Cameron, Texas and Myles Watts of
Bozeman, Montana became members of the Board of Directors of Farmer Mac earlier
today. At the same time, Lowell L. Junkins of Des Moines, Iowa, a
current member of Farmer Mac’s Board and Acting Chairman, became Chairman of the
Board of Farmer Mac.
Mr.
Junkins, Dr. Faivre-Davis, and Dr. Watts were previously nominated by President
Obama and confirmed by the United States Senate and took the oaths of office for
their new positions earlier today. The two new directors join
Mr. Junkins, Glen Klippenstein, and Julia Bartling as members of the Board
who have been appointed by the President of the United States. Dr.
Watts replaces Grace Trujillo Daniel on Farmer Mac’s Board. Dr.
Faivre-Davis assumes a seat on the Board that had been vacant since September
2008 due to the resignation of a Presidentially-appointed
director. Pursuant to Farmer Mac’s statutory charter, five of Farmer
Mac’s fifteen directors are appointed by the President of the United States with
the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate, holders of Class A Voting Common
Stock (NYSE: AGM.A) elect five directors, and holders of Class B Voting Common
Stock (not listed on any exchange) elect five directors.
Lowell
Junkins, Farmer Mac’s Chairman of the Board, said, “On behalf of Farmer Mac, I
would like to extend a warm welcome to the new members of the Board of Directors
and express how humbled we all are in being nominated by President Obama and
confirmed by the United States Senate. Farmer Mac is uniquely
positioned to offer solutions to rural lenders that bring added credit
opportunities for farmers, ranchers, and rural businesses, including rural
utility cooperatives. This is an important source of liquidity and
capital for rural America. We look forward to working with the other
directors and management to further enhance Farmer Mac’s mission and in so doing
help to ensure the continued growth and prosperity of rural
America.”
Lowell L.
Junkins has been a member of Farmer Mac’s Board of Directors since
June 1996, Vice Chairman of the Board since December 2002, and Acting
Chairman of the Board from September 2008 until he became Chairman of the Board
on September 30, 2010. He serves as chairman of the Corporate
Governance Committee and is a member of the Compensation and Public Policy
Committees of Farmer Mac’s Board of Directors. Mr. Junkins works as a
public affairs consultant for Lowell Junkins & Associates in Des Moines,
Iowa and also owns and operates Hillcrest Farms in Montrose, Iowa, where he
served as Mayor from 1971 to 1972. From 1974 through 1986, Mr.
Junkins served as an Iowa State Senator, including as majority leader from 1981
to 1986.
Sara L.
Faivre-Davis is the co-owner and managing partner of Wild Type Ranch in
Milam County Texas, which she has operated with her husband, Ralph Mitchell,
since 2005. Prior to this endeavor, Dr. Faivre-Davis was involved
with several livestock genomics companies and has also held research positions
as a staff scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Her
academic career includes faculty appointments at the University of Illinois and
Texas A&M University. Dr. Faivre-Davis graduated with honors from
Iowa State University with a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Business and
Animal Science and earned her Ph.D. in Genetics from Texas
A&M. Dr. Davis will serve on the Audit, Marketing, and Public
Policy Committees of Farmer Mac’s Board of Directors.
Myles
Watts is a professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Montana
State University, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1978 and
previously served as Department Head for 17 years. Dr. Watts has also
served in various editorial capacities for the Journal of Agricultural and Resource
Economics and has advised many governments and private organizations,
including large international reinsurance companies, on an array of financial
issues, mostly focusing on agricultural insurance. Dr. Watts received
his Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska. His family still owns the
cattle and wheat ranch where he was raised in southeastern
Montana. Dr. Watts will serve on the Finance, Credit, and Public
Policy Committees of Farmer Mac’s Board of Directors.
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Farmer
Mac is a stockholder-owned instrumentality of the United States chartered by
Congress to establish a secondary market for agricultural real estate and rural
housing mortgage loans and rural utilities loans and to facilitate capital
markets funding for USDA-guaranteed farm program and rural development
loans. Additional information about Farmer Mac is available on its
website at www.farmermac.com.
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