Bruce E. Ward joined the Farm Service Agency as Chief Financial Officer in February 2012. Prior to this position, Ward was the associate deputy chief financial officer at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), where he received the Presidential Meritorious Rank Award for Leadership in 2010. Prior to that, Ward was the chief financial officer at NASA’s Glenn Research Center where he was responsible for the organization’s resource and financial management operations. From 1999-2004, Ward was the comptroller & deputy chief financial officer at Treasury’s Financial Management Service, responsible for budgeting, accounting, internal control, audit resolution, financial policy and security. From 1997-1999 he was the deputy chief financial officer at the Farm Credit Administration. Ward began his federal service in 1993 at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as regional comptroller and then as special assistant to the chief financial officer.

Prior to his federal service, Ward worked in private industry for 16 years, starting in public accounting at the CPA firm now known as PricewaterhouseCoopers and then moving on to audit and compliance executive positions in financial services and banking.

Ward graduated with honors from the University of California at Berkeley with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and economics. He also received a Master of Business Administration in accounting and finance from the University of Southern California. He is a certified public accountant and a certified government financial manager.

Ward lives in Virginia with his wife, Akiko, also a CPA and the customer service controller at the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.