Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and Executive Director of UNICEF

Ann M. Veneman

Ann M. Veneman became UNICEF’s fifth Executive Director on May 1, 2005 after serving as the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture during George W. Bush's first term as President. She served as UNICEF director through 2010.

Appointed by the United Nations Secretary General, the Executive Director works on behalf of the United Nations children’s agency to help children around the world survive and thrive by advocating for and protecting their rights.

She had been unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate and sworn in as the 27th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on January 20, 2001.

Veneman, an attorney, was raised on a peach ranch in Modesto, California. A graduate of Thomas Downey High School in Modesto, she earned her bachelor's degree in political science from the University of California at Davis, and a master's degree in public policy from the University of California at Berkeley, and a juris doctorate degree from the University of California, Hastings College of Law. In her personal life, she currently serves as a board member of the Close Up Foundation, a nonpartisan civic education organization, based in Washington, D.C.

Her father was John G. Veneman, who served as Undersecretary of Health, Education and Welfare in the Nixon administration, and was a state assemblyman from the Modesto district for many years.

Link: UNICEF Biography Page

Link: Wikipedia Entry

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