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.

Judith B. St. John
Acting Associate Administrator 

Dr. St. John is a native of Mississippi. She received her B.S. in Biology from Millsaps College, Jackson, Mississippi, in 1962 and her Ph.D. in Botany from the University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, in 1966. Following a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Florida, she began her career with the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service as a research plant physiologist in Beltsville, Maryland in 1967. She has also served as Research Leader of the Weed Science Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland, (1986-1989); Director of the Plant Sciences Institute, Beltsville, Maryland, (1986-1989); Associate Deputy Administrator, National Program Staff (1995-2003); Deputy Administrator, National Program Staff (2003-2008), and Acting Associate Administrator, Research Programs (2009-present). Dr. St. John has served on important details within the Department of Agriculture. In 1992, and again in 1996, she was detailed to the Office of the Secretary to draft the Farm Bills for those years. From 1993 through 1994 she was detailed to the Office of the Secretary to work directly with Vice-president Gore’s National Performance Review Team for Reinventing Government. She then spearheaded the reorganization of the Department of Agriculture into 8 mission areas. She is recognized on both a national and international level as a leader in fostering interdisciplinary scientific initiatives and partnerships. As Co-chair of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Committee on Science’s Interagency Working Group on Plant Genomes she has helped shape the nation’s plant genome initiative. As Acting Co-chair of the US-EC Biotechnology Task Force, she has been a leader in establishing research priorities and scientific liaisons between US and EC scientists. In 2001 she was awarded the rank of Distinguished Executive in recognition of her exemplary leadership.