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Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young. Click the image for high-res.

Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young Named ARS Administrator

February 24, 2014

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to welcome the new Administrator for the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young. Dr. Jacobs-Young recently served as ARS Associate Administrator for National Programs, where she led the Office of National Programs which manages the research objectives of the Agency. She also led the Office of International Research Programs which is responsible for ARS' liaison with its international partners. Dr. Jacobs-Young will assume her new duties effective February 23, 2014.

Prior to moving into her role at ARS, Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young served as the Director of the Office of the Chief Scientist in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where she was responsible for facilitating the coordination of scientific leadership across the Department to ensure that research supported by, and scientific advice provided to, the Department and external stakeholders were held to the highest standards of intellectual rigor and scientific integrity. She also served as the Acting Director for USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Dr. Jacobs-Young was a senior policy analyst for agriculture in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy where she supported the President's science adviser and others within the Executive Office of the President on a variety of agricultural scientific activities and worked across the Federal Government to improve interagency cooperation and collaboration on high-priority scientific issues.

Dr. Jacobs-Young is a native of Georgia. She holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Wood and Paper Science and a B.S. degree in Pulp and Paper Science and Technology from North Carolina State University. She also is a graduate of American University's Executive Leadership in Public Policy Implementation Program.

Please join me in welcoming Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young—we are pleased to have her on board.

Dr. Catherine Woteki
USDA Chief Scientist/Under Secretary for Research, Education Economics