WASHINGTON, D.C. – Dr. Barbara O. Schneeman is the U.S. Agency for International Development’s first Higher Education Coordinator for this administration. In this role, Dr. Schneeman will work with the higher education community to improve awareness of USAID opportunities and increase engagement avenues for the agency. She will champion higher education as a tool to solve development challenges and drive economic growth.

“Strong higher education institutions form the base of any knowledge economy and can spur global innovation and competition,” said USAID Acting Administrator Alfonso E. Lenhardt. “Dr. Schneeman will bolster agency efforts to bring together diverse talent and creativity found in universities, community colleges, and research institutes in the United States and in developing countries and use them to tackle some of the world’s most intractable challenges.”

Dr. Schneeman is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Davis, where she also held the positions of Dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and Associate Vice Provost for University Outreach and International Affairs. She also served as the Director of the Office of Nutrition, Labeling, and Dietary Supplements in the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from 2004-2013.

She earned her B.S. degree in Food Science from the University of California, Davis, and a Ph.D. in Nutrition from the University of California, Berkeley.