APHIS Leadership
Cindy Smith is the Administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Ms. Smith carries out the agency’s broad mission of protecting and promoting American agriculture, regulating genetically engineered organisms, administering the Animal Welfare Act and carrying out wildlife damage management activities.
Ms. Smith began her career with APHIS in 1979 shortly after graduating high school. Throughout her years in APHIS, Ms. Smith has gained diverse experience by supporting a number of different programs, including plant protection and quarantine, wildlife services (WS) and biotechnology regulatory services (BRS).
In April 2007, Ms. Smith was appointed as the Associate Administrator of APHIS.
Prior to that, Ms. Smith served as the deputy administrator for BRS and played a major role in shaping the agency’s biotechnology regulatory structure, establishing more rigorous requirements for field tests of genetically engineered crops and initiating efforts to review and strengthen the agency’s overarching biotechnology regulations. From 2001 to 2002, Ms. Smith was the associate deputy administrator for WS, which provides federal leadership and expertise to resolve conflicts caused by wildlife.
While working her way through APHIS, Ms. Smith completed a Bachelor of Science Degree in Microbiology from the University of Maryland in 1983 as well as a Masters Degree in Management from the University of Maryland in 2000.
A native Marylander, Ms. Smith resides with her family in Woodstock, MD. She and her husband Alan are very proud of their six children and three grandchildren.