Rajiv Shah Nominated as USAID Administrator
FrontLines - November 2009
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Dr. Rajiv Shah
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President Barack Obama
nominated Dr. Rajiv Shah to
be the next USAID administrator
Nov. 10.
Shah, a medical doctor, is currently
undersecretary for research,
education, and economics at
the Department of Agriculture
(USDA) as well as the agency’s
chief scientist. At USDA he manages
a $2.6 billion budget and a
staff of more than 10,000, including
2,200 scientists.
“The mission of USAID is
to advance America’s interests
by strengthening our relationships
abroad,” said Obama.
“Rajiv brings fresh ideas and the
dedication and impressive background
necessary to help guide
USAID as it works to achieve
this important goal.”
During his tenure at USDA,
Shah launched the National
Institute of Food and Agriculture,
created to increase agricultural
research to address sustainable
food production, climate change,
bioenergy, and human nutrition.
Shah previously served with
the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation as director of agricultural
development. He also
worked with the foundation’s
co-chairs to identify new areas of
giving and served as the foundation’s
deputy director of global
health policy and finance as well
as its first director for financial
services to the poor.
Before joining the foundation
in 2001, Shah served as a health
care policy advisor to the 2000
Al Gore presidential campaign and as a member of
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell’s
transition committee on health.
He has also worked at the World
Health Organization, as a policy
aide in the British Parliament,
and co-founded Health Systems
Analytics and Project IMPACT
for South Asian Americans.
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Dr. Rajiv Shah, former director of agricultural development at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, visited the International
Fertilizer Development Center in Abuja, Nigeria, in 2006 to learn
about improvements in cassava growth with better fertilizer.
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Shah earned a medical
degree from the University of
Pennsylvania Medical School, a
master of science in health economics
from the Wharton School
of Business, and is a graduate of
the University of Michigan. He
also attended the London School
of Economics.
Since the Obama administration
took office in January,
USAID’s top leadership position
has been filled by Acting
Administrator Alonzo Fulgham.
“I am grateful for all that
USAID has accomplished
under the leadership of Acting
Administrator Alonzo Fulgham,”
said Obama, “and the thousands
of career men and women who
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 agriculture
development to the world’s most
food-insecure countries. I look
forward to working with Rajiv in
the months and years ahead.”
Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton, who was in
Singapore at the time of the
announcement, said in a statement
that Shah is “someone who
understands the importance of
providing people around the
world with the tools they need
to lift themselves out of poverty
and chart their own destinies”
and that the nominee “has the
skills and experience to lead a
reinvigorated USAID in the 21st
century.”
★
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