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.

Chavonda Jacobs-Young

Associate Administrator   

Dr. Jacobs-Young is a native of Georgia.  She holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Wood and Paper Science and a B.S. degree in Pulp and Paper Science and Technology from North Carolina State University.  She also is a graduate of American University’s Executive Leadership in Public Policy Implementation Program. 

As ARS Associate Administrator for National Programs, Dr. Jacobs-Young leads the Office of National Programs which manages the research objectives of the Agency.  She also leads the Office of International Research Programs which is responsible for ARS’ liaison with its international partners.

From April 2010 to May 2012, Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young was the Director of the Office of the Chief Scientist in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where she was responsible for facilitating the coordination of scientific leadership across the Department to ensure that research supported by, and scientific advice provided to, the Department and external stakeholders were held to the highest standards of intellectual rigor and scientific integrity.

From May 2011 to May 2012, Dr. Jacobs-Young served as Acting Director for USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).  NIFA is one of the four agencies within the Research, Education, and Economics mission area.  NIFA awards grants to university researchers across the Nation for a wide range of research that addresses the needs of farmers, ranchers, and agricultural producers.

Prior to these roles, Dr. Jacobs-Young served as a senior policy analyst for agriculture in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. There, she supported the President’s science adviser and others within the Executive Office of the President on a variety of agricultural scientific activities.  She worked across the federal government to improve interagency cooperation and collaboration on high-priority scientific issues.

From 1995 to 2009, Dr. Jacobs-Young led competitive research programs as a National Program Leader in the USDA National Research Initiative, USDA’s largest competitive program.  She administered extramural funding programs in the areas of biobased products including non-food processing, biotechnology, metabolic engineering, bioenergy production, and forest products research.  Dr. Jacobs-Young was a member of the College of Forest Resources at the University of Washington in Seattle from 1995 to 2002, where she was Assistant Professor of Paper Science and Engineering.  She was an active researcher and published in the area of biotechnology for the production of biobased products.  Dr. Jacobs-Young’s corporate experience involves working with various corporations including E.I. Dupont De Nemours, Kimberly-Clark Company, Federal Paper Board, Kraft General Foods, and the Weyerhaeuser Company.