Mr. Johnson was appointed as the Midwest Associate Director, effective October 11, 2020. Mr. Johnson received his Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture Business Management from the Pennsylvania State University in 1989. He completed the coursework for a Master’s of Statistics at North Carolina State University in 1997.

Mr. Johnson came to ARS from the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), were he served as Director of Eastern Field Operations for NASS in Washington, D.C, responsible for the day-to-day administration for the Field Operations of NASS, comprised of twelve regional field offices representing all 50 States. He previously served as Acting Director of the Census and Survey Division of NASS. He successfully completed the Senior Executive Service Career Development Program and was certified by the Office of Personnel Management in February 2015.

Jay became Director of NASS’s Great Lakes Regional Office in East Lansing, Michigan, in February 2013. This office serves Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. Jay previously served as the State Director for the Agency’s Michigan Field Office from 2011-2013 and was the Acting Regional Director for the Northeastern Region during NASS’s restructure from 46 field offices to 12 Regional Offices.

Prior to his tour in Michigan, Jay served as NASS’s Chief of Staff for 9 years. In this capacity, he served as a senior advisor to the administrator and her senior executive team on budget planning and execution, congressional activities, and day-to-day program and policy decisions which impact the agency.

From January 1999 until his appointment as Chief of Staff, Johnson served as the National Cotton Statistician. From 1997-1999, he completed a tour in NASS’s Research and Development Division as a mathematical statistician exploring the use of an area frame to measure under coverage in the Census of Agriculture. His NASS career began in the summer of 1988 as a student assistant in the Pennsylvania Field Office and subsequent tours of duty in the NASS Indiana and North Carolina Field Offices.