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UPDATED
Washington, jAN 07, 2010
Dr. Anil Gupta
Rajiv Shah
Administrator, USAID
Swearing-In Ceremony
 SECRETARY CLINTON: Good afternoon. (Applause.) It is so wonderful to be here for this occasion. As some of you know, I’ve been in this room before in the last year expressing a certain level of anxiety and frustration. All of that is behind us as we not only celebrate a new year, but have the great honor and privilege of formally swearing in our new Administrator for USAID. ...............Read
Obama appointed NRI Rajiv Shah as Under Secretary at agro-research
Washington, Dec 25 2009
The United States Senate has approved the nomination of Rajiv Shah to head the US Agency for International Development (USAID), making him the highest ranking Indian American in the Obama administration.
The Senate unanimously Thursday confirmed the nomination of Shah, 36, and some three dozen other officials nominated by President Barack Obama before taking its Christmas break.
Shah's confirmation puts him at the helm of the aid agency charged with spurring development around the world. USAID is expected to play a key role as the Obama administration has made development a key tool of its foreign policy.
Shah "brings fresh ideas and the dedication and impressive background necessary to help guide USAID as it works to achieve this important goal," said Obama in a statement announcing his nomination in November. "I look forward to working with Rajiv in the months and years ahead."
The mission of USAID is to advance America's interests by strengthening our relationships abroad," he said of the agency, which has more than 6,800 people working in some 80 countries worldwide.
USAID, formally part of the State Department, manages the bulk of US international aid with a budget of some 53.9 billion dollars for 2010, up nine percent over 2009.
Shah, a medical doctor, currently serves as chief scientist for the US Department of Agriculture and previously worked as director for agricultural development at the foundation headed by Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates and his wife.
By nominating Raj to lead the USAID, Obama has reaffirmed that development must be a core pillar of American foreign policy, said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton welcoming Shah's nomination.
"Raj will bring an impressive record of accomplishment and a deep understanding of what works in development to his role as USAID Administrator," she said. "I look forward to working closely with him to advance the President's agenda and to elevate and integrate development in our foreign policy."
Having championed Obama's global food security initiative, Shah is "a leader in the development community, an innovative and results-oriented manager, and someone who understands the importance of providing people around the world with the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty and chart their own destinies," she said.
"A trained medical doctor and health economist, Raj has the skills and experience to lead a reinvigorated USAID in the 21st century," Clinton said.
"He has led and worked with many of the initiatives that are defining best practice in the field of development."
He has a record of "delivering results in both the private and public sectors, forging partnerships around the world, especially in Africa and Asia," she added.
Prior to his work at the Gates foundation, Shah worked on health care policy for the 2000 presidential campaign of former vice president Al Gore.
He is a co-founder of Health Systems Analytics and Project IMPACT for South Asian Americans. In addition, he has served as a policy aide in the British Parliament and worked at the World Health Organization.
Dr. Shah earned his MD from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and his Master of Science in health economics at the Wharton School of Business. He has attended the London School of Economics and is a graduate of the University of Michigan.
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Obama
appointed NRI Rajiv Shah as Under Secretary at agro-research
Washington, April 18, 2009
Dr. Anil Gupta
President Obama appointed NRI Rajiv Shah, as Under Secretary, Key
Administration Post for Research, Education, and Economics, United
States Department of Agriculture
President Obama said, "I am grateful that Rajiv Shah have
made the admirable decision to serve his country. His expertise
and dedication will be a valuable asset both to my administration
and our nation as we work to bring about the real change that the
American people need today."
In 2007, Dr. Rajiv J. Shah was appointed to the Library Board by
Mayor Greg Nickels. Shah, director of agriculture for the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation, manages the global program to improve
agricultural development to reduce extreme poverty and hunger throughout
the developing world. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is
the world's largest. Thanks to the high profile of its founders
and the amount of money it controls -- some $37 billion -- it has
become a source of endless fascination and discussion in the nonprofit
world. The attention it receives is the envy of its more-established
peers in the world of institutionalized philanthropy, while new
philanthropists look to it partner with it as a path to instant
credibility.
He has also served as a policy aide in the British parliament and
worked at the World Health Organization (WHO)
Shah previously served as director of strategic opportunities and
senior economist. He helped develop the foundation's global health
strategy and managed the $1.5 billion vaccine fund. He proposed
and helped launch the International Finance Facility for Immunization,
which will issue immunization bonds to raise $4 billion for vaccinating
poor children throughout the world.
Shah previously worked as a health care policy adviser on the Gore
2000 presidential campaign, at the World Health Organization and
as a policy aide in the British Parliament. He co-founded Health
Systems Analytics and Project IMPACT for South Asian Americans,
and currently serves on the boards of the Alliance for a Green Revolution
in Africa and the Seattle Community College District.
He is the co-founder of Health Systems Analytics and Project IMPACT
for South Asian Americans..
Shah earned his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania
Medical School and a master's degree in health economics from the
Wharton School of Business. He is a graduate of the University of
Michigan and the London School of Economics.
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