President Obama Announces Nominee for Deputy Secretary of USDA

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Kathleen A. Merrigan, deputy secretary of the Department of Agriculture.

Merrigan is an assistant professor and director of the Agriculture, Food and Environment master’s and Ph.D. program at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, Boston.

Prior to joining the Friedman School, Merrigan held a variety of policymaking jobs at the state, federal and international levels. From 1999 to 2001, she was administrator of Agricultural Marketing Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

From 1994 to 1999, she worked at the Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture, and served as an expert consultant at the Food Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Merrigan holds a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in environmental planning and policy, a master’s degree in public affairs at the University of Texas, and a bachelor’s degree in political science and English from Williams College.