Mary L. Shelman
Director, Agribusiness Program
Mary Shelman rejoined Harvard Business School’s Agribusiness Program in March 2005
after more than a decade in the private sector. Working with the faculty chair, Mary
coordinates the content and production of the annual Agribusiness Seminar and related
programs. She helps identify the issues, themes, policies, and players that are influencing
and changing the vertical food chain. Her special research interest focuses on the forces
of change shaping global agribusiness. She is a member of the editorial board of the
International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, and serves as a board member
of the International Foods and Agribusiness Management Association (IAMA).
From 1993-2002, Mary was chairman of the Board of RiceTec, Inc., a fully integrated
agribusiness venture headquartered in Alvin, Texas. She also served on the boards of
RiceTec AG, Stiftung Fürst Liechtenstein (Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation), and the
USA Rice Millers’ Association. In 2003, she became Chairman of the Board of Fractal
Antenna Systems, Inc., a technology start-up located in Bedford, Massachusetts.
A native of Kentucky, Mary grew up in the agricultural industry. Throughout her youth,
she regularly worked with her father in both his farm equipment dealership and his grain
farming operation. In 1981, she received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical
engineering with High Distinction from the University of Kentucky. She earned an MBA
with Distinction from Harvard Business School in 1987.
Upon completion of her MBA, Mary spent a year working with HBS Professor Ray
Goldberg as his research associate. Under Professor Goldberg’s leadership, she
researched and wrote over a dozen case studies on leading agribusiness firms.
In 1989, Harvard Business School awarded Mary a Dean’s Doctoral Fellowship. As a
doctoral fellow in Harvard University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, she
completed all course work for a Ph.D. in Business Economics. Her areas of specialization
included agribusiness and marketing.
Previously, Mary held engineering and marketing positions with Texaco, Inc., and
worked as a summer associate for Bain & Company.