Agency Biographies

Dr. Spiro Stefanou is the Acting Deputy Under Secretary for the Research, Education, and Economics mission area, comprised of more than 8,500 employees across five organizations including the Agricultural Research Service, Economic Research Service, National Agricultural Statistics Service, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, and the Office of the Chief Scientist. Together, these organizations advance agricultural research, innovation, data, and Extension addressing agriculture’s highest priorities across the entire U.S. food supply chain.

Since 2020, Dr. Stefanou has served as the Administrator of USDA’s Economic Research Service, providing leadership for this Federal statistical agency’s research, analytical, and technical operations. He oversees professional staff that focus on relevant and timely research and analyses on the economics of agriculture, food, the environment, and rural America. 

Prior to that, he was a Professor of Economics in the Food and Resource Economics Department at the University of Florida and a Professor of Agricultural Economics at Penn State University. 

He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association and was a Marie Curie Senior Fellow at the University of Crete (Rethymnon, Greece), Mansholt Senior Fellow at Wageningen University (Netherlands), and Jean Monnet Fellow at the European University Institute (Florence, Italy). He has been a visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Studies (Vienna, Austria), and the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute (at Chania).  Dr. Stefanou has served on the editorial boards of six national and international journals. 

Dr. Stefanou received his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of California, Davis, his M.S. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of Maryland and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from George Washington University.

Dr. Simon Liu has served as ARS Administrator, the chief scientific in-house research agency, since January 2023.  Prior to ARS Administrator, Dr. Liu served for seven years as the Associate Administrator for Research Management and Operations.

He previously served as Director of the National Agricultural Library (NAL), which serves as the central library for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is one of the four National Libraries of the United States. NAL is world's largest and most accessible research library specializing in agriculture.

Before joining NAL, Simon Liu served as Associate Director of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and Director of the NLM Computer and Communications System. Prior to his service at NLM, he held leadership positions with the U.S. Departments of Justice and Treasury, following work in the private sector where he led information system development and space mission studies to support NASA mission and operations.

He attended university in his native Taiwan and pursued graduate studies in the United States, where he earned master's degrees in Computer Science, Business Administration, and Government from Indiana University, the University of Maryland, and Johns Hopkins University. He has earned two doctoral degrees: an Ed.D in Higher Education Administration and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from George Washington University. He also serves as an adjunct faculty member with graduate school appointments at several of these institutions.

Simon Liu is active in professional societies and associations and have served as the Editor-in-Chief of an information technology magazine and editor of four journals in the past 20 years. Simon has published a book and more than 80 book chapters, journal articles, and conference papers.

Dr. Kelly Maguire is the Acting Administrator for the Economic Research Service (ERS), providing leadership and guidance for the agency’s research, analytical, and technical operations. She previously served as the Assistant Administrator for ERS and, prior to that, as the Chief of the Conservation and Environment Branch in the Resource and Rural Economics Division, where she managed a suite of research focused on domestic conservation; natural resources, environment, and agricultural systems; and organic agriculture, as well as data collection and modeling work.

Dr. Maguire joined ERS in April 2018, having previously spent almost 19 years as an Economist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Center for Environmental Economics, where she conducted research and provided technical expertise on a broad range of regulatory actions. In addition, she wrote guidance documents on conducting environmental justice analysis and valuing reductions in environmental and health risks. Her research and expertise include non-market valuation of ecosystem services and health impacts, distributional analysis of environmental impacts, and benefit-cost analysis. Dr. Maguire received a Ph.D. in Economics from Georgia State University and a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from the University of Rochester.

Joseph L. Parsons is the Administrator of USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Mr. Parsons leads NASS to provide the agricultural statistics that form a comprehensive, timely and accurate picture of US agriculture. The Agency’s portfolio of reports encompasses more than 400 releases each year in addition to the Census of Agriculture conducted every five years. Parsons works with the NASS Senior Executive Team to improve and enhance the agency’s statistical programs serving all stakeholders while working to ensure NASS is an exemplary employer.

Since beginning his federal career in 1985, Parsons has held various roles and responsibilities at NASS. Prior to his appointment as Administrator, Parsons served as Associate Administrator with responsibility for the oversight and coordination of agency operations and statistical programs. Parsons other senior executive roles include serving as chair of USDA’s Agricultural Statistics Board and director of the NASS Methodology Division as well as serving as NASS Chief Information Officer. Parsons’ service has also included serving as chief data officer, senior research statistician, and providing leadership in multiple field offices.

Parsons was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in 2011 after completing USDA’s Senior Executive Candidate Development Program and American University’s Key Executive Leadership Certificate Program. As part of his leadership training, he served a detail as visiting executive at Statistics Canada.

Parsons graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with honors in Agricultural Economics and earned a master’s degree from the University of Maryland-College Park in Survey Methodology. He grew up on the family dairy farm in southwestern Missouri and worked on several farming operations throughout high school and college.

Dr. Manjit Misra is the Director of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), USDA’s extramural funding agency in the Research, Education, and Economics Mission Area. 

Dr. Misra is a world-renowned scientist who has had a transformational impact on food security through the application of engineering principles to seeds, the most vital and fundamental element of food security. Prior to joining NIFA, he was the director of the Seed Science Center at Iowa State University, a position he held from 1991 to 2023. He also was the Endowed Chair of Seed Science, Technology and Systems. 

 Dr. Misra was the 2018 recipient of the Sukup Global Food Security Award for his distinguished contributions to global food security through research, outreach and teaching in post-harvest seed science, technology and policy.

After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural engineering from Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology in India, Dr. Misra earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in agricultural engineering from the University of Missouri. He joined the faculty of Iowa State University in 1979 as an assistant professor in seed science and technology. In 2005, he was named director of Iowa State’s Institute for Food Safety and Security and was the founding director of the Biosafety Institute for Genetically Modified Agricultural Products.

Dr. Misra was sworn in to a six-year appointment as director of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture on May 8, 2023. NIFA invests in research, education and Extension at universities, research organizations and other partner organizations to develop innovative solutions for food and agriculture challenges facing the nation and the world. 

Dr. Deirdra Chester serves as the Director of the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS). In this role, she leads OCS in delivering science and research that undergirds the policies and practices of USDA and its customers and stakeholders. Additionally, she steers collaboration activities for USDA science programs that support scientific excellence, innovation, and capacity to achieve the Department’s mission. Prior to this role, Dr. Chester was with the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) were she served as the Division Director for the Division of Nutrition. In this role, she provided leadership and oversight for the Division’s research, education, and Extension activities across the nation through competitive grant programs.

Previously, Dr. Chester was the agency Science Advisor for USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Before APHIS, she served as the National Program Leader for NIFA’s Applied Nutrition Research in the Division of Nutrition. Prior to joining NIFA, Dr. Chester was a scientist at USDA’s Agricultural Research Service.

Additionally, Dr. Chester is a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist. She has spoken both nationally and internationally on nutrition topics and is on the editorial board of the Journal of Obesity and Chronic Disease.

Dr. Chester is an American University Key Executive Leadership program graduate and is SES certified through the USDA Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program. Dr. Chester holds a Ph.D. in Nutrition from Florida International University, where she was awarded the McKnight Doctoral Fellowship and was in the inaugural class of the Gates Millennial Scholars. She also holds a master’s degree in food and nutrition science and a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and dietetics from Florida State University.

Dr. Chester is the recipient of numerous honors and awards. The American Public Health Association Food and Nutrition Section awarded her the Mary C. Egan Award and she was recognized by Florida State University’s College of Human Science with the Circle of Excellence Alumni Award.