The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) was established by the 2008 Farm Bill more than 25 years after a recommendation by the U.S. National Research Council and was formally announced in October 2009. Interestingly, the areas on which NIFA has focused its efforts include those identified as grand challenges by the National Research Council report A New Biology for the 21st Century: Ensuring that the United States Leads the Coming Biology Revolution. This session will describe the vision and goals for NIFA, an update of the organizational structure of NIFA, and its current programs. The goal is to make people aware of the importance of the goals of NIFA and its new structural organization and encourage scientists and educators to become involved in helping NIFA achieve its goals.