The Obama administration will nominate a young former executive with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to run America's top foreign assistance program, ending months of speculation and complaints about who would take the vacant post, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

President Barack Obama has chosen Rajiv Shah, a medical doctor and currently a senior official at the Department of Agriculture dealing with food security, to run the U.S. Agency for International Development, the officials said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity pending notification to Congress and a formal public announcement of the choice.