US President Barack Obama on Tuesday nominated a former official at the humanitarian Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to head USAID, the agency tasked with spurring development around the world.
Rajiv Shah, 36, "brings fresh ideas and the dedication and impressive background" for the job, Obama said in a statement announcing the US Agency for International Development nomination, which still has to be approved by the US Senate.
Shah, a medical doctor, currently serves as chief scientist for the US Department of Agriculture and previously worked as director for agricultural development at the foundation headed by Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates and his wife.
Having championed Obama's global food security initiative, Shah is "someone who understands the importance of providing people around the world with the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty and chart their own destinies," said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
"A trained medical doctor and health economist, Raj has the skills and experience to lead a reinvigorated USAID in the 21st century," Clinton said in statement supporting the nomination.
He has a record of "delivering results in both the private and public sectors, forging partnerships around the world, especially in Africa and Asia," she added.
Prior to his work at the Gates foundation, Shah worked on health care policy for the 2000 presidential campaign of former vice president Al Gore.
The Obama administration has been criticized in some quarters for not nominating someone sooner to head USAID, which manages the bulk of US international aid with a budget of some 53.9 billion dollars for 2010, up nine percent over 2009.
