The President today announced his intention to nominate Robert L. Thompson to be an Assistant Secretary of Agriculture (Economics). He would succeed William Gene Lesher.
Dr. Thompson has been on the staff of the department of agricultural economics at Purdue University since 1974. He is on leave from Purdue and currently serves on the Council of Economic Advisers as Senior Staff Economist for Food and Agriculture. He has been assistant professor (1974-1979), associate professor (1979-1983), and professor (1983-present) at Purdue University. He was visiting professor in economics, statistics, and cooperatives service to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1979-1980.
He is a member of the editorial council of the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, the American Agricultural Economics Association, the American Economic Association, and the International Association of Agricultural Economists. He was a member of the task force on domestic agricultural policy alternatives, National Agricultural Forum, in 1983-1984.
Dr. Thompson graduated from Cornell University (B.S., 1967) and Purdue University (M.S., 1969; Ph.D., 1974). He is married, has two children, and resides in Springfield, VA. He was born April 25, 1945, in Canton, NY.
Ronald Reagan, Nomination of Robert L. Thompson To Be an Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/259279