Secretary of Agriculture, May 17, 1994 to December 31, 1997. Resigned December 31, 1997. Member, Governor's Commission on Competitive Forces Facing Maryland's Horse-Racing Industry, 1994-95. Member, Board of Regents, University of Maryland System, 1994-97; Governor's Executive Council, 1994-97; Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation, 1994-97; Governor's Council on the Chesapeake Bay, 1994-97; Maryland Food Center Authority, 1994-97; Interagency Economic Growth, Resource Protection, and Planning Committee, 1994-97; Interdepartmental Advisory Committee for Minority Affairs, 1994-97; Governor's Pesticide Council, 1994-97; Maryland Poultry Health Advisory Committee, 1994-97; Scenic and Wild Rivers Review Board, 1994-97; State Soil Conservation Committee, 1994-97; Maryland Winery and Grape Growers' Advisory Board, 1994-97. Co-Chair, Task Force on Maryland's Dairy Industry, 1995-97. Member, State Advisory Council on Nutrition, 1996-97.
Lewis R. Riley, Secretary of Agriculture, February 2003. Photo by Richard Lippenholz.
Member, County Council, Wicomico County, 1966-78 (president, 1971-74; vice-president, four years). Member, Recreation Commission, Wicomico County.
Member, House of Delegates, 1979-87. Minority Whip, 1982-87. Member, Environmental Matters Committee; Rules and Executive Nominations Committee, 1982-87; Ways and Means Committee; Legislative Policy Committee, 1982-87.
Member, Citizens Advisory Board for Holly Center, 1979-89; Delmarva Advisory Council, 1979-97 (1st vice-president, 1993); Mosquito Control Committee, 1982-93; Governor's Task Force on State Support for Volunteer Fire, Rescue and Ambulance Companies, 1983.
Member, State Senate, 1987-92. Member, Finance Committee, 1987-89; Budget and Taxation Committee, 1990-92; Executive Nominations Committee, 1990-92; Joint Committee on Federal Relations, 1989; Joint Committee on Chesapeake Bay Critical Areas, 1990-02; Joint Committee on Investigation.
Member, Comprehensive Trauma Rehabilitation Services Coordinating Council, 1987-88; Solid Waste Disposal Task Force, 1987-88; Governor's Work Group on Acid Deposition, 1988-89; Aquaculture Advisory Committee, 1988-92; Governor's Committee to Review State Policy for Funding Maryland's Chesapeake Fisheries, 1989-90; Commission to Save the Lighthouses, 1989-92; Governor's Pesticide Council, 1990-92.
Born in Parsonsburg, Maryland, February 19, 1935. Graduate of Wicomico Senior High School, Salisbury, Maryland. Farmer; poultryman; businessman. President, Beaver Run Farms, Inc., a family farm corporation operated with his son, producing grain, swine, cattle, and poultry. President, Maryland Association of Counties, 1973. Delegate to Republican Party National Convention, 1988. Board of Directors, Delmarva Poultry Industry. Director, Farmers and Planters Company. Member, Building Fund Board, Peninsula Regional Medical Center, 2005-. Member (50 years) and past president, Parsonsburg Volunteer Fire Department. Member, Wicomico County Farm Bureau. Former member, Advisory Board, First National Bank. Board of Directors, Wicomico Nursing Home; Wicomico Unit, Cancer Society. Board of Trustees, Peninsula General Hospital Medical Center. American Farm Degree, 1956. Wicomico Outstanding Young Farmer, 1961. Man of the Year, Maryland Grain Producers, 1996. Distinguished Citizen Award, Delmarva Poultry Industry, 1997. Friend of the Industry, Maryland Egg Council, 2003. Married; three children; five grandchildren; two great-grandchildren.
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