Take A Bow: 10 NRIs That Make India Proud

Rajiv Shah was born to Hindu immigrant parents who settled in Michigan during the 1960s.

Shah was the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) that focused on ending extreme poverty, from January 7th, 2010 to February 19th, 2015. In this role, Shah led more than 9,600 professionals in 80 missions around the world, and managed an annual budget of over $22 billion.

During his years at USAID, Administrator Shah also led the humanitarian response of the United States towards crisis management such as the earthquake in Haiti, flooding in Pakistan, famine in the horn of Africa, refugees fleeing Syria, and the typhoon in the Philippines.

Before he was a part of USAID, Rajiv had taken up a variety of leadership roles at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as the Director of Agricultural Development, Director of Financial Services.

On April 17th, 2009 Rajiv was selected as the Under Secretary of Agriculture for Research, Education and Economics and the Chief Scientist by the President Barack Obama.

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