ARS Administrators

Simon Liu
ARS Administrator

Dr. Liu served as Acting Administrator since June 2022, and prior to that served as Associate Administrator for Research Management and Operations since February 2015.

He previously served as Director of the National Agricultural Library (NAL), which serves as the central library for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is one of the four National Libraries of the United States. NAL is world's largest and most accessible research library specializing in agriculture.

Before joining NAL, Simon Liu served as Associate Director of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and Director of the NLM Computer and Communications System. Prior to his service at NLM, he held leadership positions with the U.S. Departments of Justice and Treasury, following work in the private sector where he led information system development and space mission studies to support NASA mission and operations.

He attended university in his native Taiwan and pursued graduate studies in the United States, where he earned master's degrees in Computer Science, Business Administration, and Government from Indiana University, the University of Maryland, and Johns Hopkins University. He has earned two doctoral degrees: an Ed.D in Higher Education Administration and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from George Washington University. He also serves as an adjunct faculty member with graduate school appointments at several of these institutions.

Simon Liu is active in professional societies and associations and have served as the Editor-in-Chief of an information technology magazine and editor of four journals in the past 20 years. Simon has published a book and more than 80 book chapters, journal articles, and conference papers.

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Marlen Eve
Acting Associate Administrator, National Programs

Dr. Marlen Eve grew up on a family farm, a dryland grain and livestock operation in north-central Montana. He received his B.S. in Soil Resources from Montana State University and a Masters and Ph.D. from New Mexico State University using geospatial technologies and modeling to study landscape dynamics and ecosystem health. Marlen currently serves as the Deputy Administrator for the Natural Resources and Sustainable Agricultural Systems (NRSAS) program area at the USDA Agricultural Research Service. NRSAS provides strategic leadership of ARS research programs in water resources, soil and air quality, sustainability of our crop and livestock production systems, and the interactions between management and the soil/plant/atmosphere nexus. Dr. Eve and his team serve as the ARS lead for the USDA Climate Hub initiative, and Marlen serves as the U.S. lead for the Global Research Alliance for Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA). Marlen also provides leadership to support data integration. automation and collaboration across ARS and our research partners, including leading the Partnerships for Data Innovations (PDI) initiative. Dr. Eve previously served as a National Program Leader, and prior to joining ARS, he served as Senior Advisor for Climate Change in the USDA Office of the Chief Scientist and directed the development of new tools for farm-scale estimation of greenhouse gas emissions and reductions in USDA’s Office of the Chief Economist. Marlen has also been responsible for coordinating national level greenhouse gas inventories for agriculture and forestry.

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Joon Park
Associate Administrator, Research Operations and Management

Mr. Joon Park was appointed as ARS Associate Administrator for Research Operations & Management in June 2023. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Park served as the Research, Education and Economics (REE) Mission Area Chief Operating Officer (COO) and the ARS Deputy Administrator for Administrative & Financial Management (AFM) since 2012.

Mr. Park has held other positions with the USDA Agricultural Research Service to include serving as the ARS Human Resources Director in Beltsville, MD from 2010 –2012 and as the ARS South Atlantic Area Deputy Area Director for Business Management in Athens, GA from 2007 – 2010. Mr. Park began his Federal career with the Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD through the Acquisition Intern Program in 1996 and served in various Logistics Management positions through 2007.

Mr. Park received a Presidential Rank Award as Meritorious Executive in 2022. He graduated from Liberty University in 1996 with a B.S. degree in Government and received his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from The Johns Hopkins University in 2002. In addition, Mr. Park is a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, VA, the National Security Studies Program at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C, the Key Executive Leadership Certificate Program at the American University in Washington D.C, and the USDA Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program (SESCDP).