William G. Lesher is a native of Indiana, where he spent his early years on a family farm. Bill attended Purdue University (B.S.), Oregon State (M.S.) and Cornell University (Ph.D.) where he majored in agricultural economics and public policy. He has authored and co-authored numerous articles, papers, and speeches. Since completing his formal education he has served in a number of policy-making positions and traveled extensively overseas focusing on agriculture policy and trade.  He is currently the Executive Director of Global Harvest Initiative. 

Among the other positions he has held:

• Owner/Partner in the agriculture and food consulting and lobbying firm of Lyng & Lesher, Inc., Lesher and Associates, Inc., Lesher & Russell, Inc., and most recently Lesher, Russell & Barron, Inc., all located in the Washington, D.C. area (1985-2008)
• Assistant Secretary for Economics, U.S. Department of Agriculture (1981-1985)
• Chief Economist, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry (1978-1980)
• Agriculture Legislative Assistant to Senator Richard G. Lugar (1977-1978)
• Assistant Professor, Cornell University, Department of Agriculture Economics (1976-1977)
• Numerous research and teaching positions, Cornell University, Department of Agriculture Economics (1972-1976)
• Officer in U.S. Army (1970-1972)

Bill is married to Joyce and between them they have four children. They currently reside in Arlington, Virginia.