Shah is Nominated USAID Administrator

President Barack Obama has nominated Dr. Rajiv Shah as new Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Early this year, President Obama appointed Dr. Shah as the Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics and Chief Scientist at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). In his tenure at USDA, Dr. Shah launched the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) – a new scientific institute created to elevate and enhance the capacity of agricultural research to address sustainable food production, climate change, bioenergy and human nutrition.

Earlier, Dr. Shah served as the Director for Agricultural Development at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He earned his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and his Master of Science in health economics at the Wharton School of Business. He attended the London School of Economics, and is a graduate of the University of Michigan. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) is responsible for managing an annual budget of more than $2.6 billion overseen by more than 10,000 staff worldwide.

The White House announcement is available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/president-obama-announces-usaid-administrator Details of the USAID and its work around the world is available at http://www.usaid.gov/ For more information about biotech development in India contact: b.choudhary@cgiar.org and k.gaur@cgiar.org