The White House, Office of the Press SecretaryFor Immediate Release November 10, 2009
President Obama Announces USAIDAdministrator
WASHINGTON – Today, President Barack Obama nominated Dr. Rajiv Shah asAdministrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
President Obama
said, “The mission of USAID is to advance America’s interests bystrengthening our relationships abroad. Rajiv brings fresh ideas and the dedication andimpressive background necessary to help guide USAID as it works to achieve thisimportant goal. I am grateful for all that USAID has accomplished under the leadershipof Acting Administrator Alonzo Fulgham, and the thousands of career men and womenwho fulfill USAID’s mission day in and day out – particularly their hard work in jumpstarting a landmark initiative to bring more than $20 billion for agriculturedevelopment to the world's most food-insecure countries. I look forward to working withRajiv in the months and years ahead.”
President Obama nominated the following individual today:Dr. Rajiv Shah, Nominee for Administrator of the United States Agency forInternational Development (USAID)
Dr. Rajiv Shah currently serves as Under Secretary for Research, Education andEconomics and Chief Scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He manages theAgricultural Research Service, the Economic Research Service, the National AgriculturalStatistical Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. He is responsiblefor managing more than 10,000 staff worldwide including 2,200 federal scientists and a budget of more than $2.6 billion. He also leads the Department’s participation inPresident Obama’s global food security initiative. In his tenure at USDA, Dr. Shahlaunched the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) – a new scientificinstitute created to elevate and enhance the capacity of agricultural research to addresssustainable food production, climate change, bioenergy and human nutrition. Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Dr. Shah served as the Director for AgriculturalDevelopment at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Previously, Dr. Shah served asthe foundation’s first Director for Financial Services to the Poor and led the StrategicOpportunities initiative through which he worked with foundation co-chairs to identify,assess and recommend new areas of giving. Prior to joining the Foundation, Dr. Shahworked on health care policy for the Gore 2000 presidential campaign and served as amember of Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell's transition committee on health. He is a co-founder of Health Systems Analytics and Project IMPACT for South Asian Americans.
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