Washington: Raj Shah, the highest ranking Indian-American in the Obama Administration, has decided to quit as Administrator of the country's global development agency after serving for nearly six years.
“It was with mixed emotions that I informed President Barack Obama and Secretary of State (John) Kerry that I will step down as Administrator in mid-February 2015,” Shah, 41, said in a statement yesterday.
Thanking Shah, who headed the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), President Obama said in a statement: “Shah has been at the center of my administration's efforts to advance our global development agenda as the Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID).”
“To be sure, his tasks have never been easy - responding to natural disasters, epidemics, and famine, to name just a few examples,” he said yesterday.
“But Shah, the son of proud Indian immigrants, has embodied America's finest values by pro-actively advancing our development priorities, including ending global poverty, championing food security, promoting health and nutrition, expanding access to energy sources, and supporting political and economic reform in closed societies,” Obama said. Joining Obama in praising Shah, Kerry said: “Shah has been an outstanding Administrator, a creative innovator, and a dynamic leader.”
“After five years, he absolutely deserves this transition, and he leaves USAID after making a dramatic mark - transforming this institution into one that's more entrepreneurial, more modern, and more nimble, while promoting resilient democracies and battling extreme poverty across the globe,” he said.
Vice President Joe Biden described Shah as one of the most effective administrators of USAID. Shah “has shown through five years as one of the most effective USAID Administrators in our nation's history,” Biden said in a statement.
Shah had joined the Obama administration in 2009.
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