The President announced today his intention to nominate William Gene Lesher to be Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Economics. Mr. Lesher has been serving in the position of Director of Economics, Policy Analysis and Budget, Department of Agriculture.
From August 1980 to January 1981, Mr. Lesher served as chief economist for the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. He had served as an economist for the committee since 1978.
In 1977-78 he was agricultural legislative assistant to Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.). In 1976-77 Mr. Lesher was acting assistant professor with the Department of Agricultural Economics at Cornell University. He had been with Cornell University since 1972.
Mr. Lesher was graduated from Purdue University in 1968. He received his M.S. from Oregon State University in 1970 and his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1977.
He is the author of several publications on land use and agriculture. Mr. Lesher is married and has two children. He lives with his family in Burke, Va. Mr. Lesher is 34 years old.
Ronald Reagan, Nomination of William Gene Lesher 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/247192