Veneman, Ann Margaret (1949– )

US Republican politician, secretary of agriculture 2001–05. She was deputy secretary of agriculture under President George H W Bush 1991–93 and California's secretary of food and agriculture 1995–99. As agriculture secretary, she worked to reduce trade barriers and open new export markets for US farmers, as well as strengthen systems for disease protection. In May 2005, she became the fifth executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Raised in Modesto, California, her father was a member of the Californian State Assembly. After studying political science and law at university, she trained and worked as an attorney. She worked for the Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service 1986–89 and was involved in the ‘Uruguay Round’ of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).