Mr. R.D. James
First Delegate and Chairman of PIANC USA
Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works
Mr. R.D. James was confirmed by the Senate on January 30, 2018 and sworn in as the 12th Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works (ASA-CW) on February 5, 2018. In his role as ASA-CW, he is appointed as First Delegate and Chairman of the US Section of PIANC.
Mr. James was a member of the Missouri Farm Bureau for over 35 years and had farmed/operated cotton gins and grain elevators. He also served over 36 years as one of the three civil Presidential appointees to the Mississippi River Commission, first appointed by President Reagan in 1981. Mr. James was reappointed to the Mississippi River Commission by Presidents George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, serving a total of 37 years on the Commission.
While employed with the Kentucky Department of Water Resources engineering office, he attended the University of Kentucky and graduated with a degree in civil engineering in 1971.
Mr. James received the Sikeston Area Chamber of Commerce 2007 Agri-Business Award and was the New Madrid County Outstanding Conservation Farmer of 1987. He served on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Southern Cotton Ginners Association, Memphis, Tennessee; Board Member, Cotton Producers of Missouri, Kennett, Missouri.
He is a former member of both the Board of Directors of the U.S. Bank of Sikeston, Missouri, and the New Madrid County Board of Education (served as the president from 1980-1998).