WASHINGTON, DC – January 3, 2001 — Food Marketing Institute (FMI) President and CEO Tim Hammonds has been named by President-elect George W. Bush to the Bush-Cheney Transition Advisory Team for Agriculture. Joining Hammonds will be Dr. Jill Hollingsworth, FMI’s vice president of food safety programs.

One of 240 Bush “pioneers,” Dr. Hammonds was actively involved with the Bush-Cheney campaign.

Dr. Hammonds, at the FMI helm since 1993, brings three decades of agriculture industry experience to the advisory team. Under his leadership, FMI – representing 21,000 supermarkets with combined sales of $300 billion – has grown to become one of the most respected voices on Capitol Hill, most recently with regard to federal estate tax repeal and ergonomics legislation. The organization also conducts substantial consumer research and annually hosts The FMI Show – one of the world’s largest food industry trade shows.

Dr. Hammonds serves on the Boards of Directors of the Food Industry Crusade Against Hunger, the Academy of Food Marketing at Saint Joseph’s University, and the Sloan Foundation Center for the Study of the Retail Food Industry at the University of Minnesota. He also serves on the Advisory Board of Cornell’s School of Agricultural Economics, and he is a member and a director on the Board of the National Minority Supplier Development Council.

Joining Hammonds on the transition advisory team is Dr. Jill Hollingsworth, FMI’s vice president of food safety programs and a doctor of veterinary medicine. A former deputy administrator with the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, Hollingsworth is a recognized expert in food safety issues, epidemiology and emergency response programs. While at USDA, Hollingsworth served under Ann Veneman, Bush’s nominee for Secretary of Agriculture.