URBANA, IL (Chambana Today) — Amy Roady has been named the inaugural director of the James F. Evans Global Center for Food and Agricultural Communications at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences.
Roady brings more than 20 years of experience in agricultural communications, journalism, Extension, nonprofit leadership and corporate communications to the new position. She most recently served as a corporate communications partner for Carle Health and previously spent more than a decade leading communications and outreach efforts for the Illinois Soybean Association.
In her new role, Roady will help establish the long-term vision for the Evans Center, which was created to strengthen collaboration, professional engagement and public dialogue surrounding agriculture and food systems.
“Amy’s career reflects the kind of leadership, relationship-building, and strategic communication that the Evans Center was created to advance,” said ACES Associate Dean for Academic Programs Anna Ball, who also leads the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications. “She understands the important role communication plays in connecting research, industry, producers, and the public.”
Roady is a graduate of the university’s Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications and has also served as a University of Illinois Extension educator and instructor of agricultural communications courses.
Her professional experience includes international engagement through the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists and participation in agricultural trade missions in multiple countries.
“As a proud Illinois graduate, it is deeply meaningful to return to the institution that helped shape my career,” Roady said. “The Evans Center creates an exciting opportunity to strengthen collaboration across agriculture while helping foster thoughtful conversations around food systems, science, and society.”
The center is named in honor of Professor Emeritus James F. Evans and is intended to serve as a hub for experiential learning, industry collaboration and professional engagement in agricultural communications.
Roady is scheduled to begin her new role June 16.