— Editor's Roundup —
USDA people in the news

Mike Neruda was appointed deputy under secretary for rural development, concentrating on operations and management.

From June 2001 until his appointment to this position Neruda served as the acting deputy under secretary for rural development. He was a confidential assistant to Secretary Ann M. Veneman from April to June 2001. From 1997-2001 he served as staff director of the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Resource Conservation and Credit within the Committee on Agriculture in the U.S. House of Representatives. In this position he advised the House Agriculture Committee on issues related to farm commodities, trade, conservation, and credit.

Neruda managed the Risk Management Agency’s network of regional service offices, coordinated a structural reorganization of Departmental Administration, and served as acting deputy assistant secretary for administration, from 1992-97. During 1992 he served as the executive assistant to [then] Secretary Edward Madigan. In that position he co-directed a comprehensive USDA field structure review, which resulted in a proposal for a nationwide restructuring of USDA client services.

From 1987-92 Neruda worked as a legislative director for [then] Rep. Fred Grandy (R-Iowa). He was the minority consultant to the Subcommittee on Wheat, Soybeans, and Feed Grains within the House Agriculture Committee from 1985-87. From 1982-85 he was a legislative assistant to [then] Sen. Roger Jepsen (R-Iowa), after having served as press secretary and special assistant to [then] Sen. Ed Zorinsky (D-Neb.) from 1979-82.

A Captain in the U.S. Navy Reserve, Neruda was called to active duty in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm, serving as a public affairs officer in the U.S. Central Command’s Joint Information Bureaus in Dhahran and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. After the war ended he had direct responsibility to U.S. Army General Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of all U.S. forces during that war, during which Neruda managed critical aspects of Schwarzkopf’s participation in public events. Neruda then left active duty in late 1991 and returned to his staff position with the U.S. Congress.

Neruda was reared on a family farm, near Dorchester, Neb., which raised wheat, corn, milo, and cattle. He holds a B.S. degree in general agriculture from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and an M.A. degree in public administration from the University of Oklahoma.

Inga Smulkstys, the previous deputy under secretary for rural development, held that position from March 1996 until January 2001, and is now a Washington, DC-based part-time consultant in a number of areas. •