Amponsah Appointed National Panel Manager

June 5, 2001

Greensboro, NC: Dr. William Amponsah, director of the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University International Trade Center, has been appointed the 2001 National Panel Manager for USDA’s National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program in the area of markets and trade.

Prior to his appointment, Amponsah served three consecutive years as a member of the national panel.

National Panel Managers are selected through a competitive process that takes into consideration expertise, national leadership in scientific research, knowledge about national research priorities, and a record of scientific publication in peer-reviewed journals.

The panel manager’s responsibilities include recruiting expert scientists for peer review panels, assigning submitted proposals to peer review panelists and ad hoc reviewers, organizing the proposals and reviews in preparation for the panel meeting, chairing the panel meeting, handling recommendations for funding or declining proposals, and preparing a report on assessment of the scientific review process to assist the program director and chief scientist in improving or enhancing the grants award process.

In the past year, Amponsah led the review of 85 proposals and conducted national meetings with the assistance of a ten-person team.

Amponsah also serves as a panel member of the 2001 Tribal College Education Equity Grants Program, and is co-editor of the Review of Agricultural Economics.

The National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program is the office in the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service of the USDA charged with funding research on key problems of national and regional importance in biological, environmental, physical, and social sciences relevant to agriculture, food, and the environment on a peer-reviewed, competitive basis

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For more information, please contact Dr. William Amponsah, NC A&T International Trade Center, (336) 334-7056