NMSU Official Tapped for USDA Under Secretary

Date:  July 10, 1997
Editor: D'Lyn Ford  (505) 646-6528, dlford@nmsu.edu

LAS CRUCES -- I. Miley Gonzalez, associate dean and director for academic programs with New Mexico State University's College of Agriculture and Home Economics, was named today as President Bill Clinton's choice for under secretary with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

If confirmed by the Senate, Gonzalez will head the major research and education functions of the department, including research and extension service funding for land-grant universities in every state.

The Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics (REE) oversees four major agencies with a budget of $1.7 billion:

• the Agricultural Research Service;
• Economic Research Service;
• National Agricultural Statistics Service; and
• Cooperative States Research, Education and Extension Service, which links USDA research, extension and education programs by working with land-grant universities.

"I am delighted to have the opportunity to serve USDA in this very important mission area," Gonzalez said. "Research, extension and education in agriculture are keys to furthering U.S. leadership in today's global marketplace."

In September 1996, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman selected Gonzalez from among more than 600 nominees to serve on the 30-member National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education and Economics Advisory Board.

Gonzalez has held his current position at NMSU since September 1996. He served as assistant dean and deputy director of NMSU's Cooperative Extension Service from 1994 to 1996. From 1991 to 1994, Gonzalez headed NMSU's agricultural and extension education department. He was director of international programs for the College of Agriculture and Home Economics from 1992 to 1994.

"It is good news for all land-grant universities to have the prospect of someone of Dr. Gonzalez's experience at the helm in Washington," said Jerry Schickedanz, interim dean and chief administrative officer of the college. "It is rare to have someone with such an understanding of both fundamental agriculture and our educational system in such a position."

Before coming to NMSU, Gonzalez was assistant director of international agriculture programs at Iowa State University and director of agriculture training programs for the Consortium for International Development from 1988 to 1991.

Gonzalez owned and operated an educational management consulting business in Arizona from 1984 to 1988, after serving as a faculty member in agricultural and extension education at Iowa State university. He has a bachelor's and a master's degree in agricultural education from the University of Arizona and a doctorate in agricultural and extension education from the Pennsylvania State University.

Gonzalez was born in Ysleta, Texas, and grew up on a ranch near San Simon, Ariz.