USDA ARS Announces New Administrator

The USDA Agricultural Research Services announced on Jan. 4 the appointment of Dr. Simon Y. Liu as Administrator of the Agricultural Research Service, effective immediately. Dr. Liu has served as Acting Administrator since June of last year, and prior to that served as Associate Administrator for Research Management and Operations since February 2015.<\p>

Dr. Liu joined ARS as Director of the U.S. National Agricultural Library (NAL), which serves as the central library for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is one of the four National Libraries of the United States. NAL is the world’s largest and most accessible research library specializing in agriculture. Before joining USDA, he served as Associate Director of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) and Director of the NLM Computer and Communications System. Prior to his service at NLM, he held leadership positions with the U.S. Departments of Justice and Treasury, following work in the private sector where he led information system development and space mission studies to support NASA space missions and operations.

Dr. Liu attended university in his native Taiwan and pursued graduate studies in the United States, where he earned Master’s degrees in Computer Science, Business Administration, and Government from Indiana University, the University of Maryland, and Johns Hopkins University. He has earned two doctoral degrees: an Ed.D. in Higher Education Administration and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from George Washington University. He also serves as an adjunct faculty member with graduate school appointments at several of these institutions. Dr. Liu is active in professional societies and associations and has served as the Editor-in-Chief of an information technology magazine and editor of four journals in the past 20 years. He has published a book and more than 80 book chapters, journal articles, and conference papers.

“We are fortunate to have Dr. Liu in this important leadership position,” said Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young, Under Secretary, Research, Education & Economics, and USDA Chief Scientist. “His dedication to excellence and innovation in both program and administration will continue to serve ARS well as a premier scientific organization. My thanks to Dr. Steve Kappes, Mr. Joon Park, Ms. Jill Stetka and others in the ARS senior leadership team during this time of transition.”