Rufus Yerxa
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Rufus Yerxa is a former U.S. public servant and is currently Monsanto's Chief International Counsel and Head of Government Public Affairs for Europe. The UK Financial Times "applauded the shrewdness of the appointment of ... Yerxa as the US's deputy to the WTO's director general: "Yerxa has been international counsel to Monsanto ... [he is] the man Supachai will need should the US ever bleat to the WTO about EU restrictions on genetically modified food."
As an American public servant (under both Republican and Democratic administrations) he was US Ambassador to the GATT in Geneva; he played a key role in the Uruguay Round Negotiations. Yerxa served as a Deputy U.S. Trade Representative and U.S. Envoy to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, in Geneva. Prior to 1989, he served as the Assistant Chief Counsel of the House Ways and Means Committee and Staff Director of its Subcommittee on Trade.
From 1977 to 1981, he was the Legal Advisor to the Chairman of the International Trade Commission. An attorney and a member of the Washington State and District of Columbia Bars, Yerxa is a graduate of the University of Washington and the University of Puget Sound, and holds an LL.B. in international law from Cambridge University (UK). Prior to being named as Monsanto's international counsel, Yerxa was Monsanto's European general counsel.
