The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture on Tuesday formally signed the commissions of all Senate-confirmed officials serving at the Department of Agriculture, marking the official return of Mindy Brashears, a nationally recognized food safety expert and longtime academic leader at Texas Tech, as Under Secretary for Food Safety.
The commission signing, held in the secretary’s office, brought together the department’s full slate of Senate-confirmed leadership, according to an online USDA press statement. The ceremony coincided with the one-year anniversary of the current administration’s second term and underscored its emphasis on continuity and regulatory oversight across the nation’s food and agricultural systems.
As under secretary, Brashears assumes responsibility for safeguarding the nation’s commercial supply of meat, poultry and processed egg products. She will lead the USDA’s Office of Food Safety, overseeing the administration’s food safety priorities, and direct the policies and programs of the Food Safety and Inspection Service, the department’s public health regulatory arm. In addition, she will chair the U.S. Codex Steering Committee, which coordinates U.S. engagement in international food standards.
Brashears is no stranger to the role. She previously served as under secretary from 2019 to 2021, a period marked by unprecedented disruptions to the global food system. During that time, she played a central role in maintaining continuity across the nation’s food supply chain and led major regulatory initiatives, including the modernization of federal swine and egg inspection systems.
Her return to Washington again draws her from Texas Tech, where she is a professor of food safety and public health in the Department of Animal & Food Sciences and director of the International Center for Food Industry Excellence. Over a career spanning more than two decades, Brashears has built a national reputation for bridging academic research, industry practice and public policy.
At Texas Tech, she holds several of the institution’s highest academic honors, including the title of Paul Whitfield Horn Distinguished Professor and the Roth & Letch Family Endowed Chair for Food Safety. Her work has also earned national recognition, most recently with her selection as a Signal Service Fellow by the American Meat Science Association in 2025.
Brashears was among a group of senior USDA officials whose commissions were signed Tuesday. Others included Devon Westhill, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights; Dudley Hoskins, Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs; John Walk, Inspector General; Luke Lindberg, Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs; Michael Boren, Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment; Richard Fordyce, Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation; Scott Hutchins, Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics and USDA Chief Scientist; Tyler Clarkson, General Counsel; and Yvette Herrell, Assistant Secretary for the Office of Congressional Relations.
CONTACT: Chance Brooks, Chair and Professor, Department of Animal & Food Sciences, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2808 or chance.brooks@ttu.edu
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