Judy Canales, Rural Development Acting Deputy Under Secretary

On April 30, 2012, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the appointment of Judith Canales as Acting Deputy Under Secretary for USDA Rural Development.

Most recently, Canales served Administrator for the Rural Business-Cooperative Service at USDA Rural Development.  Before that, she served as the Executive Director of the Maverick County Development Corporation in Eagle Pass, Texas, and for the past seven years as an adjunct faculty member for Southwest Texas Junior College.

In 1996, Former President Bill Clinton appointed Canales as Deputy State Director for Texas Rural Development. She worked as the Acting Associate Administrator for Rural Business and Cooperative Service in Washington, D.C. She served as the Legislative Representative for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. She also served as the Executive Director of the International Hispanic Network, a national membership organization of Hispanic city managers, which promotes professional excellence among Hispanic executives and public managers in local government. She served as the Assistant City Manager for the City of Eagle Pass.

Canales received a Master of Public Administration degree from Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government. She received a Master of Arts degree in Urban Studies from Trinity University in San Antonio, a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin and an Associate of Arts degree from Southwest Texas Junior College. Canales is a native of Uvalde, Texas, and most recently lived in Eagle Pass, Texas. (May 18, 2012)

Doug O’Brien,

Doug O’Brien J.D., LL.M., was appointed Deputy Under Secretary for USDA Rural Development on August 1, 2011. Prior to his appointment, O’Brien served as a Senior Advisor to Secretary Tom Vilsack and Chief of Staff to Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan.

Before joining the United States Department of Agriculture, O’Brien served as the Assistant Director at the Ohio Department of Agriculture. In this capacity, he assisted the Director in administering the day-to-day operations of that department in such areas as plant industries, animal health, and its laboratories. In addition, he was responsible for developing the department’s biofuels, bioproducts and renewable energy policy efforts.

O’Brien has also served as Senior Advisor to Iowa Governor Chet Culver, Interim Co-Director for the National Agricultural Law Center in Fayetteville, Ark., and Senior Staff Attorney at the Drake Agricultural Law Center in Des Moines, Iowa.

He is former counsel for the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee, where he worked on the 2002 Farm Bill, livestock marketing, concentration, agricultural credit, and cooperative issues.

He also served as Legislative Assistant for Representative Leonard Boswell, focusing primarily on Rep. Boswell’s work on the House Agriculture Committee, and as a Clerk for Justice Jerry Larson of the Iowa Supreme Court. O’Brien graduated from Loras College and earned a Juris Doctorate with honors from the University of Iowa. In addition, he holds a Master’s Degree in Agricultural Law from the University of Arkansas.

O’Brien, who was raised on a diversified farm in Iowa, has dedicated his career to agriculture and rural policy.(August 2011)