Dr. Ronald Howell, Jr., State Executive Director

Dr. Ronald Howell, Jr. was appointed by the Biden Administration to serve as the State Executive Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Virginia in January 2022.

Dr. Howell combines more than 12 years of experience in higher education and state and federal government. Dr. Howell began his career with USDA in 2010 as a County Operations Trainee (COT) with FSA in Virginia. He later transitioned to the Office of Chief Financial Officer in Washington, DC where he provided oversight and accountability for programmatic spending for USDA programs. In 2018, he began his tenure as the Director of Operations and Management in the College of Agriculture at Virginia State University.

Prior to this appointment, Dr. Howell served as the Special Assistant/Advisor for Strategic Partnerships and Initiatives to the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry, in the Office of Virginia’s 72nd and 73rd Governors where he worked to strengthen outreach eff orts and minority and limited resource producer participation in USDA and state-based agricultural programs.

In 2021, Governor Northam reappointed Dr. Howell to a four-year term on the Virginia Council for Environmental Justice. Dr. Howell is active in numerous civic and community based organizations.

He was involved in 4-H and grew up on the family hog, row crop, and small grains operation that transitioned to hay and forage production.

Dr. Howell earned a Bachelor of Science from Virginia State University, a master’s degree from Virginia Tech, and a doctorate degree from Murray State University in Kentucky.

Dr. Howell lives in Spring Grove, Virginia, where he is actively involved in the Swan’s Point Baptist church and is a life member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.