National Cotton Council leaders have named Gary M. Adams to be the next president and CEO of the National Cotton Council of America, the organization that represents all seven segments of the U.S. cotton industry.

He will succeed Mark Lange, who has announced he will retire at the end of February, 2015. The official transfer of duties will take place at the Council’s annual meeting at the historic Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tenn., Feb. 6-8.

Dr. Adams joined the Council in 2002 as vice president of economic and policy analysis. His responsibilities included economic outlook for global cotton markets, as well as analyzing the impacts of farm and trade policies as they relate to the U.S. cotton industry.

In recent days, he briefed more than 500 farmers on the latest information available to the Council on enrollment in the Agricultural Act of 2014 in a series of STAX/Farm Bill update sessions. Adams spoke to growers in Monroe, La.; Stoneville, Miss.; McGehee, Ark.; Jackson, Tenn.; and Blytheville, Ark.

He also has represented the cotton industry on USDA’s Advisory Committee on Trade from 2005 through 2011 and the NASS Advisory Committee on Agricultural Statistics from 2003 through 2009.

Prior to joining the Council, he was a research assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Missouri. During his 13-year tenure at the university, His primary responsibilities included policy analysis and market outlook for the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute, also known as FAPRI. While at FAPRI, Gary and his colleagues were recognized by the American Agricultural Economics Association for their policy contributions.

Adams holds B.S. and M.A. degrees in Applied Mathematics from the University of Alabama and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Missouri. He and his wife, Carol, have four children. They live in Memphis.

For more information on the National Cotton Council, visit www.cotton.org