Almost an entire year into his presidency, the Obama Administration has finally announced it’s appointment of an administrator to USAID — Rajiv Shah! After the anticipation and rumor surrounding the possibility of Paul Farmer being nominated a couple of months ago, which eventually sizzled out, much concern was raised about the vetting process, the priority of foreign assistance by the administration, and the possibility of total restructuring (see this past post).

At 36 years of age, Shah is new to Washington, DC having been appointed only five months ago to serve as an undersecretary for research, education, and economics and chief scientist at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Prior to that he worked at the Gates Foundation where he had become the head of its agricultural development program.

A recent article in Foreign Policy magazine reads:

It’s ample experience for a young guy. But it is not necessarily experience relevant to USAID. The agency is responsible for a broad spectrum of initiatives relating to trade, democracy promotion, health, agriculture, humanitarian assistance, economic development, and emergency aid. Shah has scant experience in many of those core sectors. He has never been a member of the foreign service. He has never been based abroad, where virtually all of USAID’s work happens. And he hasn’t really worked inside the Beltway, either.

There is a lot of question around what the nomination of Shah means. Entering in the shadow of Henrietta Fore (the extremely accomplished woman who led USAID in the latter years of the Bush Administration), the young Shah does not appear at first glance to be the transformative leader many were hoping for. I doubt he will be reclaiming the institution away from Hillary Clinton’s reigns at State. At the very least, however, the appointment is a first step in a battle to save USAID from its own collapse.