DUNCAN, Okla. – The National Rural Water Association has announced two speakers for the opening session of the first H2O-XPO, to be held Oct. 6-8 in Louisville, Ken. U.S. Department of Agriculture Under Secretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager and Rural Utilities Service Administrator Jonathan Adelstein have both accepted invitations to speak at the opening session. Both are also scheduled to meet with the NRWA board and with circuit riders during the conference.
                Tonsager took the Oath of Office as Under Secretary for Rural Development on May 18, 2009. Prior to re-joining USDA, Tonsager served on the board of directors for the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation and the Farm Credit Administration, which is responsible for regulating and examining the Farm Credit System.
                In 1993, then-President Bill Clinton selected Tonsager to serve as USDA South Dakota’s state director for Rural Development. Tonsager oversaw a diversified portfolio of housing, business and infrastructure loans in South Dakota totaling more than $100 million. In 1999, he was recognized as one of two outstanding state directors. His term concluded in February 2001.
                After his tenure as state director, Tonsager served as executive director of the South Dakota Value-Added Agriculture Development Center in Huron. He coordinated initiatives to increase the economic value and consumer appeal of agricultural products.
                From 1988 to 1993, Tonsager served two terms as president of the South Dakota Farmers Union. He also served on the board of National Farmers Union Insurance from 1989 to 1993, and was a member of the advisory board of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission from 1990 to 1993.
                Tonsager grew up on a dairy farm near Oldham, S.D. He graduated from South Dakota State University with a Bachelor of Science in agriculture in 1976. Tonsager and his wife, Sharon, have two sons.
                Adelstein is a former commissioner for the Federal Communications Commission. Before joining the FCC, Adelstein served for fifteen years as a staff member in the United States Senate. For the last seven years, he was a senior legislative aide to United States Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), where he advised Senator Daschle on telecommunications, financial services, transportation and other key issues. Previously, he served as Professional Staff Member to Senate Special Committee on Aging Chairman David Pryor (D-AR), including an assignment as a special liaison to Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), and as a Legislative Assistant to Senator Donald W. Riegle, Jr. (D-MI).
                Prior to his service in the Senate, Adelstein held a number of academic positions, including: Teaching Fellow in the Department of History, Harvard University; Teaching Assistant in the Department of History, Stanford University; and Communications Consultant to the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
                Adelstein received a B.A. with Distinction in Political Science from Stanford University, an M.A. in History from Stanford University, studied at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and is a graduate of Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He is a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance, the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society and the Pi Sigma Alpha Political Science Honor Society.
                Adelstein was born and raised in Rapid City, South Dakota. He now lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his wife Karen, son Adam and daughter Lexi.               

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