Sonny Ramaswamy

Sonny Ramaswamy, an Indian American agricultural scientist has been appointed to serve as the Administrator of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Ramaswamy attended the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore and earned a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture in 1973 and a Master of Science (Agriculture) in agricultural entomology in 1976. He then earned his Ph.D. in Entomology from Rutgers University. He completed the executive Management Development Program from Harvard University in 2001.

From 1997 to 2006 Ramaswamy was head of the Department of Entomology at Kansas State University, where he held the title of Distinguished Professor. He was then the Associate Dean of Purdue University College of Agriculture and directed the University's agricultural research programs from 2006 to 2009.

In 2009, Ramaswamy was appointed as the Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University and Director of the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station.

On March 2012 President Barack Obama announced his intention to appoint Ramaswamy as Director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Sonny Ramaswamy is married to Gita N. Ramaswamy who is director of academic programs, assessment, and accreditation at Oregon State University. Their daughter Megha Ramaswamy is an assistant professor at University of Kansas Medical Center.