Kerry Clark, Director of CAFNR International Programs, received the Brady J. Deaton Fellow in International Agriculture Award as part of the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) Celebration of Excellence.  

Clark leads faculty in developing international research and education collaborations and seeking opportunities to contribute to global food security and poverty reduction. By doing this, she aims to improve global citizenship within the entire university community. Her leadership was recently recognized by the American Society of Agronomy, who honored her with the Emerging Leader for African Agricultural Transformation award in 2022. 

“Her research efforts have high impact. For example, through her work as program manager for smallholder productivity and mechanization for the USAID Innovation Lab for Soybean Value-Chain Research (SIL), she conducts training programs for local fabrication of threshers in cooperation with in-country partners in sub-Saharan Africa. By partnering with private industry to develop improved capacity for mechanization and production and processing of soybean crops, she has assisted in building a million-dollar thresher manufacturing industry in Africa,” said nominator Harvey James, director of the Division of Applied Social Sciences. 

Clark is also involved in improving the experiences of international students studying at Mizzou. In 2020, she founded CAFNR International Student Engagement, which helps international students acclimate to the University and life in the United States. In just four years, this group has swelled to 650 members. 

“Dr. Clark is a tremendous asset to CAFNR, and her dedication to international agriculture is impressive,” said James.