Norma McDill was selected as the deputy administrator for cotton in the Agricultural Marketing Service. She succeeded Mary Atienza, who served in that position from 1994 until she retired in December 1999, following 30 years of service in AMS.

    From December 1999 until her recent selection, McDill served as the acting deputy administrator for cotton in AMS. In addition, since November 1995 she served as the agency’s associate deputy administrator for cotton. She was the deputy director for financial management in AMS from 1992-95.

    From 1990-91 McDill served as the chief of AMS’s Budget and Program Analysis Branch. She was a budget analyst in that branch from 1984-90. She worked in a variety of administrative positions, including administrative officer and accounting technician, in the [then] Office of Information from 1966-84, after having begun her USDA career in the [then] Soil Conservation Service as a secretary in 1963.

    A native of Asheville, N.C., where she grew up on a tobacco farm, McDill holds a B.S. degree in business administration from the University of Maryland.