Annual Meeting 2004
The 40th Annual Meeting of
The Association for International Agriculture 
and Rural Development

"Progress in International Agriculture and Rural Development"
Speakers and Panelists

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Charles Riemenschneider
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Charles Riemenschneider is Director of the North American Liaison Office of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). He was appointed to his current position by Director-General Jacques Diouf in December 1994. As FAO's representative in North America, Dr. Riemenschneider coordinates FAO's activities in the region. He represents the Organization before the national governments of the United States and Canada, international institutions located in North America, such as the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank, and nongovernmental organizations in the region. Prior to joining FAO, Dr. Riemenschneider was Majority Staff Director of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry for eight years beginning January 1987. As Staff Director, Dr. Riemenschneider supervised the Committee staff and was responsible for advising the Chairman and other members of the Committee on legislative and policy

 issues. Dr. Riemenschneider was also a Vice President in the Global Portfolio Management Department of Chemical Bank in New York City. In 1982, he started at Chemical Bank as Vice President and Senior Agricultural Economist.

Dr. Riemenschneider was on the professional staff of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee from 1978 to 1982, where he was Analyst for Agriculture and Science and subsequently Senior Analyst for Physical Resources. He has also served on the faculty at Michigan State University. He has been a consultant to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the World Bank and to domestic and international companies in the farm input supply, agricultural marketing, and food processing industries. Dr. Riemenschneider has authored numerous articles in the trade and popular press and has addressed many business and professional groups on business and public policy issues. He was a member of the President's Agricultural Task Force to Zaire in 1985 and was Chairman of the Industry Committee of the American Agricultural Economics Association. Dr. Riemenschneider holds an M.S. and Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Michigan State University and a B.S. in Agricultural Economics from Rutgers University. He was born and raised on a family dairy farm in north central Maryland.