The President today announced his intention to nominate Duane Acker, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Science and Education. He would succeed Charles E. Hess.
Currently Dr. Acker serves as Administrator of the Foreign Agricultural Service and Administrator for International Cooperation and Development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Prior to this, he served as Assistant to the Administrator for Food and Agriculture at the U.S. Agency for International Development in Washington, DC. From 1975 to 1986, Dr. Acker served as president of Kansas State University.
Dr. Acker graduated from Iowa State University (B.S., 1952; M.S., 1953) and Oklahoma State University (Ph.D., 1957). He was born March 13, 1931, in Atlantic, IA. Dr. Acker is married, has two children, and resides in Arlington, VA.
George Bush, Nomination of Duane Acker To Be an Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/267413