Jill Long Thompson
Board Member
Board Member
Jill Long Thompson was appointed to the Farm Credit Administration Board by President Barack Obama on March 27, 2010. Her recess appointment is effective through the end of the 2011 legislative session. She also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation, which is responsible for ensuring the timely payment of principal and interest on obligations issued on behalf of Farm Credit System banks.
Ms. Long Thompson brings to her position on the FCA Board many years of leadership experience. From 1989 to 1995, she represented northeast Indiana as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, serving on the Agriculture Committee and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. As congresswoman, she introduced one of the nation’s first pieces of legislation banning members of Congress from accepting gifts; this legislation also expanded disclosure requirements for lobbying activities.
From 1995 to 2001, she served as Under Secretary for Rural Development in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where she oversaw an annual budget of $10 billion and a staff of 7,000 employees. In this position, she managed programs that provide services to the underserved areas of rural America.
In addition, Ms. Long Thompson served as chief executive officer and senior fellow at the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy, a nonprofit research and policy organization in Washington, D.C.
The first and only woman to be nominated by a major party to run for Governor of Indiana, Ms. Long Thompson is also the first and only Hoosier woman to be nominated by a major party to run for the U.S. Senate. She was nominated by the President on October 15, 2009, for a term on the Farm Credit Administration Board ending May 21, 2014, and is awaiting confirmation by the United States Senate.
Ms. Long Thompson also has many years of experience as an educator, having taught at Indiana University, Valparaiso University, and Manchester College. She is also a former fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. She holds the M.B.A. and Ph.D. in Business from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and a B.S. in Business Administration from Valparaiso University.
Ms. Long Thompson grew up on a family farm outside of Larwill, Indiana; today she lives with her husband Don Thompson on a farm near Argos, Indiana.