Roger Glendenning, distinguished alumnus from the University of Delaware College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture for 36 years in 11 different positions, including serving as acting USDA Rural Development Under Secretary. In 2023, Glendenning received a Presidential Rank Award for meritorious achievement.

Representing rural America

Article by Molly Schafer Photos courtesy of Roger Glendenning May 02, 2025

Distinguished UD alumnus Roger Glendenning reflects on 36 years with the USDA

Roger Glendenning, distinguished alumnus from the University of Delaware College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, served rural America for 36 years at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

“My career has been a journey, and it has unfolded in some unexpected ways at several junctures,” Glendenning said.

One of those junctures came earlier last month when Glendenning retired from his position as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the USDA’s Agency of Rural Development.

Glendenning worked for the USDA for 36 years in 11 different positions, even serving as acting USDA Rural Development Under Secretary while a permanent nominee went through the Senate confirmation process.

Glendenning has been interested in agriculture for as long as he can remember. His mother had roots in western South Dakota, and she often took him to visit their western relatives. Spending time with these fourth-generation cattle ranchers left an impression on young Glendenning. As a teenager, he worked on farms in Chester County, Pennsylvania.

“I was always drawn to agriculture and knew that's where I wanted to focus my career,” Glendenning said. “My degree from the University of Delaware provided a smooth segue to land at the USDA; it was the foundation I built off during my 36-year career.”

Glendenning attended UD as a graduate student, earning a master’s degree in agriculture economics in 1987. UD’s agricultural and resource economics graduate program encourages students to use analytical skills to engage with meaningful questions about human behavior in the environment and to develop a well-rounded understanding of how to solve meaningful policy questions. Many graduates become leaders in agricultural and environmental careers across government agencies, academia and the private sector.

After graduating from UD, Glendenning worked in field office positions for the Farmers Home Administration, starting in Seaford, Delaware. He connected with rural families and farmers, made housing and farm operating loans, completed collateral appraisals and developed farm operating plans.

In 2024 as Rural Development Chief Operating Officer, Glendenning presented the Chickasaw Nation with the USDA Rural Development ReConnect Broadband Grant. Funding will be used to bridge the technology gap impacting many rural communities within the Chickasaw Nation, potentially providing nearly 3,000 individuals, households, businesses and education facilities with quality, affordable high-speed internet.

“The first nine years of my career, serving in small county offices throughout Delaware and Maryland, was the formative period of my career,” Glendenning said. “It’s probably the part of my career I look back at most fondly.”

Spending time on the front lines gave Glendenning a real sense of the importance of the USDA’s Rural Development mission.

“Our agency, Rural Development, helps rural communities prosper in a comprehensive way,” Glendenning said. “We provide support for rural low and moderate-income homebuyers, hospitals and community centers, telemedicine and broadband system access, water and waste disposal systems, support for electric cooperatives and rural business support.”

Glendenning said the need for these programs and services remains great across rural America, especially in underserved communities.

“Affordable housing for lower-income Americans has increasingly become a problem as housing stock and home prices are challenging,” he said. “There are not enough resources to tackle the enormity of the needs in many rural communities, but Rural Development helps fill many of the critical gaps, primarily through loan and loan guarantee programs.”

Rural Development operates more than 50 different loans, loan guarantees and grant programs through appropriations and authorities granted from Congress and has an outstanding loan portfolio of more than $220 billion.

“I feel rural America is worth this investment so that American agriculture production stays healthy and strong, supported by thriving rural communities and economies,” Glendenning said.

In the late ’90s, Glendenning moved to the USDA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. He has since served the USDA in several positions, including director of the Single-Family Housing (SFH) Guaranteed Loan Division, chief budget officer, budget director, chief financial officer, and deputy administrator, SFH at Rural Development. In 2009, CANR bestowed Glendenning with its Distinguished Alumni Award for his record of outstanding career accomplishments, service and leadership. He also received four USDA Secretary’s Honors Awards during his career.

In 2022, the USDA promoted Glendenning to chief operating officer. In this role, he provided enterprise-wide oversight responsibility for all administrative functions within the Rural Development agency, including administrative support for more than 4,700 employees in nearly 500 offices across all Rural Development National, State and Field locations. He brought credibility and trustworthiness to the role, applying a field office perspective on administrative operations. Glendenning said it was important that employees at all levels knew he had appreciated and understood their role in the department.

Former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and retired U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Department of Administration Assistant Secretary Gregory Parham present the Abraham Lincoln Honor Award to Glendenning in 2016.

In July 2023, President Biden appointed Glendenning to serve in an acting capacity as USDA Rural Development Under Secretary while a permanent nominee went through the Senate confirmation process. He served in this capacity for eight months.

“Serving as Acting Under Secretary was the honor of a lifetime and a culminating event in my career,” Glendenning said. “My time at Rural Development and the many different roles I served in over the years prepared me to serve in an interim capacity.”

Glendenning said it was a privilege to serve under then USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres-Small, the first Latina to hold the position.

Another career highlight came later that year when Glendenning received the Presidential Rank Award for meritorious achievement. The award celebrates exceptional performance over an extended period.

“To be recognized gave me a great feeling of humility and honor,” Glendenning said. “What made me most proud was that it took into account the entirety of my experience at this agency and the way I've been able to build on it over the years and make contributions in a sustained way. The Presidential Rank award was nice recognition that, perhaps, I've had a chance to make a difference in our agency.”

Ever humble, the Blue Hen alumnus is quick to credit those who helped him to build his career.

“I've had a lot of people believe in me and give me chances, and allow me the opportunity to succeed,” Glendenning said.

Glendenning counts several members of the UD faculty in this category.

“Dr. [Gerald] Cole, my thesis advisor, was a great mentor to me,” Glendenning said. “Dr. [Steven] Hastings, Dr. [Thomas] Ilvento and Dr. [John] MacKenzie were always there for me. Dr. [Ulrich] Toensmyer, Dr. [Conrado “Bobby”] Gempesaw, and Dr. [Catherine] Halbrendt were also a big part of my experience at UD.”

“Roger Glendenning is a great example of a UD student who began a graduate degree that transformed his perspective and future opportunities,” said Thomas Ilvento, professor in the Department of Applied Economics and Statistics. “He took advantage of all that was offered him and used that to build a very successful career. Roger has remained a friend of our department, of the college and of UD.”

Glendenning said attending UD was one of the most influential times of his life, and he fondly recalls his classmates as a tight-knit global community.

“Whether it be a budget issue, accounting issue or how to apply scarce human, financial and technological resources in optimal ways to achieve good outcomes,” Glendenning said, “I always fall back on my education in resource economics as a basis for thinking about how to solve problems.”