John Norris
John Norris, a longtime political associate of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, has arrived in Rome to assume the position of minister-counselor at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations agencies in that city.

Norris was chief of staff for Vilsack when he was governor of Iowa and his first chief of staff at USDA before being appointed as a commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The mission focuses on the work of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Program and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

The U.S. Mission to the United Nations Agencies in Rome traditionally has two political appointees. The head of the mission is Ambassador David Lane, a former White House official and director of the ONE Campaign.

Norris succeeds Michael Michener, who left to become the director of sustainability policy at Crop Life International in Brussels.