Mike Johanns

Mike Johanns has more than 30 years of service in both the legislative and executive branches of government. He was in the U.S. Senate from 2009-2015. As Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (2005-2007), Sen. Johanns developed a complete farm bill proposal that became the foundation for improvements and reforms adopted in the 2008 farm bill. He served as Governor of Nebraska from 1999-2005 and as the state representative on the Export-Import Bank Advisory Committee; as a member of the National Governors Association Executive Committee; as chair of the Governors’ Biotechnology Partnership and chair of the 25-state Governors’ Ethanol Coalition. Sen. Johanns’ public service began on the Lancaster County Board in Nebraska, followed by the Lincoln City Council. He was elected Mayor of Lincoln in 1991 and reelected without opposition in 1995. He is a graduate of St. Mary’s University of Minnesota and holds a law degree from Creighton University in Omaha. He clerked for the Nebraska Supreme Court before practicing law in O’Neill and Lincoln, Nebraska. Sen. Johanns currently serves on the Board of Directors of Deere & Co and Corteva and on the Board of Managers of OSI group. He was nominated by Presidents Obama and Trump and confirmed by the Senate to serve on the Board of Directors for Millennium Challenge Corporation, where he still serves.