Editor's Note: APHIS Administrator Kevin Shea sent the following letter to stakeholders announcing the selection of Dr. Betty Goldentyer as the permanent replacement for Bernadette Juarez. Initially Dr. Goldentyer had been named Acting Deputy Administrator but will not be permanent in the position.

Dear Stakeholders:

I am pleased to announce that effective immediately, Dr. Betty Goldentyer will officially become Animal Care’s (AC) Deputy Administrator, a position she’s been acting in since August 2019 when the program’s previous Deputy Administrator, Bernadette Juarez, moved to APHIS' Biotechnology Regulatory Services program.

Betty brings a wealth of veterinary knowledge and skills, as well as both hands-on and managerial experience to this new role. She’s a graduate of Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine. Before joining AC in 1988, Betty worked as a veterinarian in a small animal practice and then a humane society in Chicago. She came to AC as a field inspector in Wisconsin and is an alumnus of APHIS’ prestigious Public Veterinary Career Program (PVPC), which the agency started in the mid-1980s to meet the need for highly-skilled and well-trained public veterinarians.

Betty then became a regional AC specialist and supervisor in Tampa, FL. She moved to Raleigh in 2007 to be AC’s Eastern Regional Director and came to Riverdale in July 2017 as AC’s Associate Deputy Administrator.

During her career, Betty made it a priority to make AC processes more streamlined and efficient for the program and its stakeholders. For instance, biomedical research facilities need to submit an annual summary of their animal use to AC. Betty led the project to make reporting easier and more accurate resulting in an Online Annual Report system which is a model for the modernization of AC’s information technology systems.

She currently leads USDA’s response to the 21st Century Cures Act.  This is an ongoing effort to reduce the regulatory burden on scientific researchers while maintaining scientific integrity and humane animal care.  Betty’s efforts have resulted in broad support for the Cures Act Report to Congress.

I want to thank Betty for her dedication to APHIS and her willingness to take on this new role. Many of you may already know Betty from her long tenure in AC, but for those who may not, I hope you’ll have the chance to meet her in the coming months.
 
Sincerely,
Kevin Shea
APHS Administrator