WASHINGTON, June 7, 2007--Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today announced the selection of Katherine ("Kitty") Smith as administrator of the department's Economic Research Service (ERS). Dr. Smith will oversee the agency's program of economic and social science research and analysis.

"Kitty Smith has demonstrated outstanding leadership abilities as acting administrator, associate administrator, and in other key management positions at ERS," said Johanns in announcing the selection. "I look forward to working with her as the agency administrator."

Smith recently served as acting administrator of ERS and has directed the agency's Market and Trade Economics Division and its Resource Economics Division.

Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics Gale Buchanan announced the selection to ERS staff. "The work of ERS," Buchanan said, "is important to the mission of other USDA agencies, and Kitty Smith's experience covers the broad range of ERS programs."

Smith's experience at ERS totals 25 years. She also served for 3 years as Policy Studies Program Director for the Henry A. Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture and was a Senior Fellow with the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy at Resources for the Future. As a researcher and research manager, her principal areas of expertise have been policy analysis, particularly agricultural and resource policy integration. As a research administrator, she was awarded the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Executives in 2001.

Smith will head the USDA agency that conducts research, analyzes food and commodity markets, produces policy studies, and develops economic and statistical indicators to inform decisions about food, agriculture, natural resources, and rural development.