Gonzalez Goes to Washington
Date: Aug. 15, 1997
Editor: D'Lyn Ford (505) 646-6528, dlford@nmsu.edu
LAS CRUCES -- I. Miley Gonzalez often rises at 6 a.m. to send an e-mail from his New Mexico State University account. But he's not yet accustomed to receiving a reply five minutes later from his new office in Washington, D.C., where it's already two time zones and hours later.
Gonzalez has been getting up even earlier than usual this week as he makes the transition to his new job as under secretary with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"One day this week I woke up at 1:30 in the morning and made lists until 4 a.m.," he says, bemused at the memory.
Gonzalez had belongings to pack and errands to run before leaving Las Cruces and going on leave as associate dean and academic programs director for NMSU's College of Agriculture and Home Economics.
At the same time, Gonzalez was preparing for what he calls a "vertical" learning curve. In his new job as under secretary for research, education and economics, he will oversee four major agencies with a budget of $1.7 billion: the Agricultural Research Service; the Economic Research Service; the National Agricultural Statistics Service; and the Cooperative States Research, Education and Extension Service, which links USDA programs with land-grant universities like NMSU nationwide.
One of the first milestones for Gonzalez in Washington will be the pending reauthorization of the research and extension titles of the federal budget.
Another project is a comprehensive review of federal Agricultural Research Service facilities nationwide.
"My job will be to get caught up as quickly as possible so I can join in the discussion," Gonzalez says. "At USDA, I hope that my background will help us to heighten the role of education and Extension work, while maintaining a balance with research."
Although his academic career has led him into the social rather than natural sciences, Gonzalez brings firsthand experience with agriculture to USDA, having grown up on family farm and ranch operations.
When he was born, Gonzalez's family farmed near La Union, N.M., a few miles south of NMSU. Later, the family moved to San Simon, Ariz., along the border of southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. The scenic area is the only place in the region with rivers that run north instead of south.
As a child, Gonzalez remembers making the 14-mile mountain hike at a neighboring Boy Scout Camp and relishing the view of four states, three in the U.S. and one in Mexico.
"My family sold cattle back and forth across the border," Gonzalez says. "The border was there, but only in the sense of a geopolitical boundary."
He later managed spice farms in Mexico and marketed their products in the U.S. His experiences with agriculture along the border shaped Gonzalez's academic career in agricultural and Extension education. He has worked his way across the country at four different land-grant universities: Arizona, Penn State, Iowa State and NMSU.
In addition he has directed international programs, honing his bilingual skills in educational projects throughout Latin America. "I've worked in 16 or 17 countries. I've lost count," Gonzalez says.
All those experiences molded the leadership style he takes to USDA.
"Part of my Extension philosophy is that you work with people where they are and you move them to where they want to be," he says. "I hope that we can make life better, by having people understand the importance of agriculture, agricultural production, processing and marketing."
Gonzalez believes his experiences at NMSU, where he has worked since 1991, will serve him well in Washington.
"This experience over the last six years in New Mexico has probably done more to prepare me for going to this new assignment in Washington, where I'll be working with a variety of clients all across the country and globally," he says.
Along with his agricultural background, academic experience and bilingual skills, Gonzalez hopes to bring a little humor to the serious responsibilities at USDA.
Last week, in response to an interview request from New Mexico-based Hispanic Radio Network, staffers asked him whether he could really speak Spanish.
"Certainement," Gonzalez replied in his best tongue-in-cheek French. As their brows furrowed, he affirmed in Spanish: "Claro que si."
Gonzalez's retelling of the story brought hearty laughter and applause during the swearing-in ceremony Aug. 5. It's far from the last word he will have on the style and substance at USDA.