On May 4, 2014, Joseph T. Reilly was appointed administrator of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), taking over from Cynthia Clark.
Reilly is from Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, where he grew up on a small farm, and graduated from Tamaqua Area High School in 1971. He went to Pennsylvania State University, earning a B.S. in statistics and marketing in 1975.
After college, Reilly went to work for the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of the Census. During his 21 years with the Census Bureau, he worked on surveys about crime, housing and economic and labor statistics before joining the Census of Agriculture division.
In 1997, the responsibilities for the Census of Agriculture were transferred to the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Reilly moved with them as deputy administrator for field operations with responsibility for 46 NASS field offices.
Reilly was named associate administrator in 2005. In 2008, while Reilly was serving as acting administrator, NASS cut its regular reporting on pesticide use. Reilly said the move came for budgetary reasons.
Reilly is married; his wife’s name is Deborah.
-Steve Straehley
To Learn More:
Meet Joseph Reilly, Administrator of NASS (Amstat News)
