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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.

Nora Lapitan
Acting Associate Administrator, National Programs

Dr. Lapitan is the Deputy Administrator for the Office of National Program’s division of Crop Production and Protection. Prior to joining the Office of National Programs, Dr. Lapitan directed the Feed the Future Initiative’s Research Programs at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and served as Division Chief in the Center for Agriculture-led Growth in the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security. She also worked at the National Science Foundation, where she served as Program Director for the Basic Research to Enable Agricultural Development program and co-led the Plant Genome Research Program. Prior to this, Dr. Lapitan was a Professor at Colorado State University, where she led a research program to understand the genetics of economically important traits in cereal crops. Earlier in her career, she completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Cornell University, where she studied the molecular organization of crops, including tomato and rice.

Dr. Lapitan is a plant geneticist and is passionate about applying science and technology to improve the agricultural productivity of farmers. Dr. Lapitan received her bachelor’s degree in Biology at the University of the Philippines, and master’s and doctorate degrees in Genetics from Kansas State University.

Dr. Lapitan was elected as a Fellow of Crop Science Society of America in 2008, Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy in 2009, and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2013.  

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).