Edward B. Knipling
Administrator 

Dr. Knipling is a native of Texas, but grew up primarily in the Washington, D.C. area. He earned his B.S. in 1961 in forestry from Virginia Tech University. He received his M.A. in 1963 and Ph.D. in 1966 in plant physiology from Duke University.

Dr. Knipling served in the U.S. Army 1966-68, conducting research on remote sensing of environment. He began his career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in 1968 as a research plant physiologist in Gainesville, Florida. He has also served as Area Director for ARS in Stoneville, Mississippi (1975-78), and in Fresno, California (1978-82), and Associate Deputy Administrator, National Program Staff, Beltsville, Maryland (1982-88). Dr. Knipling served as Director of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, Maryland (1988-89) and served as Deputy Administrator of the National Program Staff, Beltsville, Maryland, until October 1996. Dr. Knipling served as Acting Administrator for ARS from October 1996 to November 1997. Dr. Knipling was appointed Associate Administrator of ARS in December 1997. Dr. Knipling was appointed Acting Administrator of ARS in December 2001. Dr. Knipling was appointed Administrator of ARS in July 2004.

Dr. Knipling's speech: The Life and Vision of Edward F. Knipling Concerning the Eradication of the Screwworm

Caird E. Rexroad, Jr.
Associate Administrator 

Dr. Rexroad is a native of West Virginia. After completion of undergraduate studies in Animal Science at West Virginia University (1968) he served in the U.S. Army (1968-1970).  Following military service, he obtained a Ph.D. in Reproductive Physiology-Endocrinology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1970-1974). His professional career has been entirely with the Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture.  During his career as a bench scientist in ARS (1974-1997), Dr. Rexroad was instrumental in initiating research on the introduction of new genes into farm animals. He served as a member of the research team that reported the first production of transgenic animals. From 1992 to 1997, he served as Research Leader of the Gene Evaluation and Mapping Laboratory. As Research Leader and research collaborator, he directed research on the discovery of DNA markers to improve selection for disease resistance and production traits in dairy cattle. His research has resulted in over one hundred scientific publications and several book chapters. He is active in professional societies and is past-president of the International Embryo Transfer Society. He served as Associate Deputy Administrator for Animal Production, Product Value and Safety on the National Program Staff of the Agricultural Research Service from 1997 to 2002 where he managed programs on animal health, animal production, food safety, and human nutrition. He is currently serving as the Associate Administrator for the Agricultural Research Service.

Antoinette Betschart
Associate Administrator 

Dr. Betschart is a recognized authority on the nutritional value of cereal grains and legumes. She has authored or coauthored more than 140 scientific publications and patents. Dr. Betschart has served as President and Chair of the Board of the American Association of Cereal Chemists. She is also a member of the scholastic honorary societies, Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi and Omicron Nu. Dr. Betschart received a B.S. degree in foods and nutrition from the University of California, Davis, CA (1960), M.S. in human nutrition from Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR (1966) and Ph.D. in food biochemistry and nutrition from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (1971).

Dr. Betschart was winner of the Award of Distinction from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of California at Davis in 1997, and was awarded the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Award for Scientific Achievement in 1994. In 1995, she was elected a Fellow of the American Association of Cereal Chemists and named Outstanding Alumnus of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA. Dr. Betschart was awarded the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service in 1998 for sustained superior accomplishment in managing programs and for noteworthy achievement of quality and efficiency in the public service.

Dr. Betschart began her appointment as Associate Administrator for Research Operations in October 2004 in Washington, D.C.