Mark Keenum

Mark E. Keenum
Keenum in 2014
19th President of Mississippi State University
Assumed office
January 5, 2009
Preceded byRobert H. Foglesong
Chair of Board for International Food and Agricultural Development
In office
April 2018 – January 2022
Preceded byBrady Deaton
Succeeded byLaurence B. Alexander
Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services
In office
2007 – January 20, 2009
Preceded byJ.B. Penn
Succeeded byJames W. Miller
Personal details
Born (1961-01-28) January 28, 1961 (age 63)
Starkville, Mississippi, U.S.
SpouseRhonda Keenum
Children4
EducationNortheast Mississippi Community College
Mississippi State University
WebsiteOffice of the president
Academic background
ThesisAn economic analysis of farm-raised catfish production in Mississippi with emphasis on costs and cash flows (1988)
Doctoral advisorJohn E. Waldrop
Academic work
Disciplineagricultural economics
InstitutionsMississippi State University

Mark Everett Keenum (born January 28, 1961) is an agricultural economist who is the 19th and current university president of Mississippi State University.

He served as a professor at Mississippi State University from 1988 to 1989 and 1997 to 2009, congressional staff of U.S. Senator Thad Cochran from 1989 to 2006, Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services in the United States Department of Agriculture from 2007 to 2009, and chair of Board for International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD) from 2018 to 2022.