Higher Education and Development (2015)
Featuring Dr. Barbara O. Schneeman, USAID Higher Education Coordinator
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is the lead U.S. government agency working in international development. USAID staff work in more than 100 countries worldwide through a network of civil service workers and foreign service officers in approximately 80 missions. Programs and priorities include those areas that contribute to meeting our mission of ending extreme poverty and promoting resilient, democratic societies through partnerships while advancing our security and prosperity. Higher education (post-secondary education) has been a key partner in achieving USAID objectives since the agency’s founding in 1961 by providing expertise in teaching, administration, research, innovation, and outreach as well as the engagement of students, faculty, and staff to build local capacity, deliver programs, and evaluate the impact of USAID’s work. As the environment for funding development has changed in response to forces, such as changing demographics, new donor partners, globalization, and the need to localize aid, the ways in which USAID partners with higher education institutions is evolving. This presentation is an opportunity to discuss opportunities for partnering with USAID to contribute to sustainable development outcomes.
Dr. Barbara Schneeman joined USAID as the Agency’s higher education coordinator in March 2015. In this role, she works with the higher education community to increase engagement with USAID through existing and expanded avenues. She also represents USAID on higher education issues in intraagency meetings, with Congress, and with higher education associations and other industry leaders to build and support institutional partnerships.
From 2004 to 2013, Dr. Schneeman served as the director of the Office of Nutrition, Labeling and Dietary Supplements in the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. From 1976 to 2004, she was professor of nutrition at the University of California, Davis, and served in several administrative roles, including chair of the Department of Nutrition, dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and associate vice provost for university outreach and international affairs. She has also served as a visiting scientist at the University of California, San Francisco, and as the assistant administrator for nutrition in the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
In addition to serving as the associate editor for the Journal of Nutrition, Dr. Schneeman has published over 140 journal articles, book chapters and review articles as well as numerous abstracts. She is recognized for her work on dietary fiber, gastrointestinal function, development and use of food-based dietary guidelines, and policy development in the area of food and nutrition.
Dr. Schneeman has served on numerous government, non-profit and foundation boards and committees, including the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academies of Science, the World Health Organization, the American Society of Nutrition, the Institute of Food Technologists, and the International Life Sciences Institute. From 1996 to 2004, she served as president of the board of the Dannon Institute. She has also served as the U.S. delegate for two committees of Codex Alimentarius, an international body that sets standards pertaining to food and food safety.
Dr. Schneeman earned a Bachelor’s Degree in food science from the University of California, Davis; a Ph.D. in nutrition from the University of California, Berkeley; and underwent postdoctoral training in gastrointestinal physiology at Children’s Hospital in Oakland, California.