Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced late Friday that Stacy Dean has been nominated to serve as USDA undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services. Since the start of the Biden administration, Dean has served as the deputy in the department.

“Her commitment during her time at USDA and throughout her career proves she is exceptionally well suited to serve as undersecretary for FNCS,” Vilsack says. “Since taking on the role of deputy undersecretary, Stacy has sought to increase nutrition assistance for struggling Americans and tackle barriers that have been long engrained into assistance programs.”

Prior to joining USDA, she served as vice president for food assistance policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and directed CBPP’s food assistance team, where her team reported on the impacts of federal nutrition programs and developed policies to improve them. In addition to her work on federal nutrition programs, Dean directed CBPP efforts to integrate the delivery of health and human services programs at the state and local levels, according to a White House statement on her nomination.

Before her role with CBPP, she was a budget analyst with the Office of Management and Budget where she worked on policy development, regulatory and legislative review, and budgetary process and execution for a variety of income support programs.

“Stacy has an incredible depth of knowledge and experience in the field of food and nutrition, and I am thrilled at the prospect of her continuing to shape the nation's food and nutrition policy as the undersecretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services,” Vilsack adds.

“As Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, Ms. Dean will work to ensure Americans and their families can put healthy food on the table,” says Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow. “It’s a critical role and one Ms. Dean is very qualified to serve in. I look forward to reviewing her nomination.”

Dean earned her B.A. and master’s degree in public policy from the University of Michigan.