This profile contains Biden Administration nominations and appointments made at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Nominations and Appointments

Olugbenga Ajilore is a Senior Advisor in the Office of the Under Secretary for Rural Development. He was previously a senior economist at the Center for American Progress, and also served as president of the National Economic Association. Before that, he was an associate professor of economics at the University of Toledo.¹

Jewel H. Bronaugh was Deputy Secretary of Agriculture. She had formerly served as Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services since 2018. Before that, she was Executive Director of the Center of Agricultural Research, Engagement and Outreach at Virginia State University, Virginia State Executive Director for the USDA Farm Service Agency, and Dean of the College of Agriculture at Virginia State University.² Bronaugh announced that she was resigning from her position in January 2023.³

Janie Simms Hipp was General Counsel at the Department of Agriculture. She had most recently been chief executive officer of the Native American Agriculture Fund, and before that was the founding director of the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative at the University of Arkansas. She also formerly served as a national program leader at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, and as director of the Office of Tribal Relations.⁴ In mid-2023, Hipp resigned from her position at the Department of Agriculture in order to become chief executive officer of Native Agriculture Financial Services.⁵

Tom Vilsack is Secretary of Agriculture. He formerly served as Secretary of Agriculture during the Obama Administration, and was the 40th Governor of Iowa.⁶ He has served as President and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council,⁷ and on the Board of Directors of Feeding America.⁸

1. “U.S. Department of Agriculture Announces Key Staff Appointments.” U.S. Department of Agriculture. January 21, 2021. Available at: https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2021/01/21/us-department-agriculture-announces-key-staff-appointments
2. “Dr. Jewel H. Bronaugh, VDACS Commissioner.” Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Accessed May 14, 2021. Available at: https://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/about-commissioners-office.shtml
3. “Statement from Agriculture Deputy Secretary Jewel Bronaugh.” U.S. Department of Agriculture. January 26, 2023. Available at: https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2023/01/26/statement-agriculture-deputy-secretary-jewel-bronaugh
4. “Janie Simms Hipp.” Native American Agriculture Fund. Accessed August 4, 2021. Available at: https://nativeamericanagriculturefund.org/janie-simms-hipp/
5. “New Native Financing Institution to Increase Access to Capital for Farmers and Ranchers.” Native American Agriculture Fund. June 14, 2023. Available at: https://nativeamericanagriculturefund.org/new-native-financing-institution-to-increase-access-to-capital-for-farmers-and-ranchers/
6. “Domestic Nominees and Appointees: Secretary Tom Vilsack.” Biden-Harris Transition. Accessed December 11, 2020. Available at: https://buildbackbetter.gov/nominees-and-appointees/tom-vilsack/
7. “Our Staff.” U.S. Dairy Export Council. Accessed December 11, 2020. Available at: https://www.usdec.org/about-us/our-staff
8. “Secretary Tom Vilsack.” Feeding America. Accessed December 11, 2020. Available at: https://www.feedingamerica.org/about-us/leadership/Secretary-Tom-Vilsack