Release No. 0051.00 
                                                               
                      Media Contact: Maria Bynum (202) 720-5192
                                           maria.bynum@usda.gov
                     Public Contact: Brad Schwab (202) 720-5221
                                          bschwab@nass.usda.gov

BOSECKER NAMED NASS ADMINISTRATOR

     WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2000 Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman has named Ron
Bosecker as the administrator of the National Agricultural Statistics Service.  He replaces Donald
Bay who retired from the position in December 1999.

     "Ron Bosecker's long history with NASS gives him a valuable  perspective and
understanding of the agency's vital role in providing the statistics which identify trends, make
forecasts and influence policy decisions," said Glickman.

     As the NASS Administrator, Bosecker oversees the agency's work to provide important
accurate statistical information and services.   He manages headquarters staff here in Washington
that works in conjunction with the agency's 45 state statistical offices in the 50 states.  He also
oversees the Census of Agriculture which is a complete accounting of U.S. agricultural
production and the only source of uniform, comprehensive agricultural data for every county in
the nation.
          
     From April 1999 until his selection as administrator in December, Bosecker served as
NASS's acting deputy administrator for field operations. He was director of the agency's
Research Division from 1992 until 1999.  From 1985 to 1992 he served first as chief of NASS's
Methods Branch and then as chief of its Survey Sampling Branch.  He was the deputy state
statistician in NASS's California State Statistical Office, based in Sacramento, from 1981 to
1985.

     Bosecker worked as a mathematical statistician at NASS headquarters in Washington,
DC, from 1972 to 1981, where he served in several sections, including Remote Sensing, 
Nonsampling Errors, Sampling Studies, Area Frame, and Statistical Methodology.  During that
period he also provided technical guidance for developing or evaluating agricultural statistics
programs in Tunisia, Haiti, and Bolivia.  He began his full-time career with NASS in 1966 as a
commodity statistician in the agency's Ohio State Statistical Office, based in Columbus.

     A native of Mt. Carmel, Ill., where he grew up on a family farm that raised hogs, cattle,
corn, soybeans, wheat, and hay, Bosecker holds a B.S. degree in agricultural economics from
Southern Illinois University, as well as M.S. degrees in agricultural economics and in statistics,
both from Ohio State University. 

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