John Kufuor (co-Chair)
Former President
Republic of Ghana
Ghana
John Kufuor is the former president of the Republic of Ghana, having served two terms from 2001-2009. During his presidency, he served as chairperson of the African Union (2007-2008) and a chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) (2003-2005). He also served as a deputy minister of Foreign Affairs, representing Ghana’s delegation to the United Nations. President Kufuor has twice been elected as a member of Parliament. Earlier in his career, he served as secretary for Local Government, chief legal officer, and city manager for the city of Kumasi, the second largest city in Ghana. He is currently a Global Ambassador against Hunger for the UN World Food Programme. He received his B.A. and M.A. from Oxford University.
Catherine Bertini
Senior Fellow
Chicago Council on Global Affairs
United States of America
Catherine Bertini, 2003 World Food Prize laureate, is a senior fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and a professor of public administration at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. She previously served as UN secretary-general for management and as executive director of the UN World Food Program. Catherine is a member of two U.S. Agency for International Development Advisory Committees: the Board of International Food and Agricultural Development and Voluntary Foreign Aid. She also serves on the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation’s Committee on World Food Security. As senior fellow for The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, she co-chairs the Global Agricultural Development Initiative and chairs the Girls in Rural Economies project.
Robert Bos
Coordinator, Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Health
World Health Organization
Switzerland
Robert Bos is the Coordinator of Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Health at the World Health Organization where he leads WHO’s efforts in normative water quality work and in monitoring access to drinking-water and sanitation. He has served as a Public Health Biologist with WHO for nearly 30 years, during which he served as an Executive Secretary of the joint WHO/FAO/UNEP Panel of Experts on Environmental Management for Vector Control. He has promoted the development of health impact assessments, managed research on environmental management and contributed to the development of norms and standards for safe use of wastewater in agriculture. Following the Stockholm Convention, Robert promoted alternatives to persistent organic pesticides in public health and agriculture. He holds M.Sc.’s from the University of Amsterdam in medical biology and in basic and clinical immunology.
Beatriz da Silveira Pinheiro
Director General, Strategic Studies and Capacity Strengthening
Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA)
Brazil
Beatriz da Silveira Pinheiro is the director general of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa)’s Strategic Studies and Capacity Strengthening division. She also has served in several positions at Embrapa, including director general and technical director of Embrapa Rice and Beans, and has assumed the leadership of many national and international projects researching rice. Beatriz is a member of the Global and Latin America International Networks for Genetic Evaluation of Rice and the coordinator of the International Year of Rice. She received a Ph.D. in Plant Biology from Universidad Estadual de Campinas, a M.S. in Plant Physiology from University of California, Davis, and a B.S. in Agronomy from Universidad Federal de Pelotas.
Liz Drake
Senior Food Security and Agriculture Adviser
Department for International Development (DFID)
India
Liz Drake is the Food Security and Agriculture Adviser for India at the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID). She has served as a policy adviser for DFID’s Aid Effectiveness and Accountability Department, supporting its policy work in that area. Previously, she was a livelihoods adviser to the World Bank for pro-poor rural growth policies in Rwanda and to DFID for projects and policies in the United Kingdom and Uganda. She holds a B.A. in biological sciences from the University of Oxford and an M.A. in environment and development from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London.
Lisa Dreier
Director, Food Security and Development Initiatives
World Economic Forum USA
United States of America
Lisa Dreier is the director of Food Security and Development Initiatives at the World Economic Forum USA, where she works to expand public-private collaboration to advance food security, sustainable agriculture, and economic development. She has developed the Forum’s work in this arena since 2005 and now manages its New Vision for Agriculture initiative and the Global Agenda Council on Food Security. She previously worked at the Earth Institute at Columbia University in concurrent positions as manager of the UN Millennium Project Hunger Task Force and associate director of the Tropical Agriculture Program. Prior to those positions, Lisa worked on a variety of sustainable development issues as a consultant to the North American Development Bank and the World Bank; as a staff member with the Environmental Defense Fund; as an advisor to NGOs in the U.S., South America and Asia; and as a journalist in the US and Asia. She holds an M.A. in Energy and Resources and an M.P.P. in Public Policy from the University of California at Berkeley, and a B.A. from Bowdoin College.
Simeon Ehui
Sector Manager, South Asia Agriculture and Rural Development Unit
The World Bank
United States of America
Simeon Ehui is the World Bank’s sector manager for its South Asia Agriculture and Rural Development Unit covering Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Prior to that, Simeon was the sector leader for the Sustainable Development Network in Nigeria covering a variety of issues such as agriculture, environment, and energy. He also worked for 15 years in the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) co-sponsored by the World Bank. He served at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) where he managed multi-country agricultural research and development programs in Africa and Asia. He holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University and has published extensively in his field. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the International Association of Agricultural Economists, founding honorary fellow of the African Agricultural Economist Association, and a Distinguished Agricultural Alumnus of Purdue University.
Kevin Farrell
Special Envoy for Hunger, Ireland
Kevin Farrell is the special envoy for hunger to assist in Ireland’s efforts to advance hunger reduction. Prior to this, he was a member of Ireland’s Hunger Task Force. He also served the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) as head of Great Lakes Operations at its headquarters, head of the WFP in Uganda and Somalia, and most recently head of the WFP in Zimbabwe. Kevin has also served as deputy humanitarian coordinator for the United Nations Iraq Program in Iraq and director of Humanitarian Operations for the same program in New York. Additionally, he served as field director with CONCERN Bangladesh and as chief executive officer in the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC). He was educated at University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, and University College.
Boitshepo “Bibi” Giyose
Senior Food and Nutrition Security Advisor
The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Secretariat
South Africa
Boitshepo “Bibi” Giyose is a senior food and nutrition security advisor to the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). Before joining NEPAD, she worked for the UNDP/UNAIDS Botswana, as the regional project coordinator for strengthening the United Nations programmatic response to HIV/AIDS in small population African countries. She has also worked as the regional coordinator for the Commonwealth Regional Health Community Secretariat for East, Central and Southern Africa, as a nutritionist for the Government of Botswana, and as a private nutrition consultant. She has served on the Global Horticulture Board and the Oversight Committee of the Collaborative Crops Research Program of the McKnight Foundation (USA). Alongside her numerous engagements, Bibi continues to write a weekly column on Food, Nutrition, and Health for a Botswana newspaper. She holds an M.Sc. in International Nutrition from Cornell University and a B.Sc. in Nutrition and Dietetics from Appalachian State University. Bibi was awarded a Distinguished Alumna Award by Appalachian State University.
Christian Henckes
Head of Section of Agriculture and Food
Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ)
Germany
Christian Henckes is the head of the Section of Agriculture and Food in GTZ, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit. He previously worked at the World Bank where he was first employed in the Agriculture and Rural Development Department and then in the Aid Harmonization Unit. Prior to this, Christian was senior advisor for agrifood systems in the Planning and Development Department at GTZ headquarters. Before working in Germany, he was involved in a post-harvest project and a farming system project in Ghana. In his earlier career, he was part of a research project for smallholder maize production systems of Technical University Berlin in Tanzania. Christian holds a M.Sc. in agricultural science from Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University Bonn and a Ph.D. in agricultural science from Technical University Berlin.
Hans Jöhr
Corporate Head of Agriculture
Nestlé
Switzerland
Hans Jöhr is the corporate head of Agriculture at Nestlé in Vevey, Switzerland. Prior to joining Nestlé, he served as CEO of AFC Consulting in Brazil engaged in agribusiness and forestry consulting and management. He is on the Board of the International Policy Council on Agriculture Food and Trade, the Advisory Council of the Swiss State Secretariat of Economics, the Board of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, and is the director of the Board of the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center in Costa Rica. He is the author of over 30 Brazilian and international newspaper publications. Hans is a former president of the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, past president of the Swiss-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, and co-founder/former president of the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative of the food industry. He completed formal education in agricultural economics and received his doctoral degree in economic science with complementary management programmes at l'Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires and International Institute for Management Development.
Kabba Joiner
Former Director General
West African Health Organization
Burkina Faso
Kabba Joiner is the former director general of the West African Health Organisation in Burkina Faso, an intergovernmental organization whose membership comprises the 15 West African states. He completed his term in 2008 and is currently a consultant to the African Medical Research Foundation. He has served as vice dean clinical at the University of Ilorin, executive secretary of the West African Post-graduate Medical College, and executive director of the West African Health Community, an intergovernmental organization made up of the five English-speaking West African states. In 2008, he received a prize for Leadership in Advocacy for Food Fortification in West Africa from the Food Fortification Initiative.
Luc Maene
Director General
International Fertilizer Association (IFA)
France
Luc Maene is the director general of the International Fertilizer Association (IFA). Also at IFA, he has held the positions of executive secretary for Agro-Economic and Technical matters, deputy secretary General, and secretary general. Prior to working at IFA, he served in the Belgian Administration for Development Cooperation and lectured on soil science, conservation, and responsible research. He also worked for the United Nations on the Fertilizer Advisory, Development, and Information Network for Asia and the Pacific. Luc is the vice chairman of the Board of the International Fertilizer Development Center, the past chairman of the Board of Directors of the Fertilizer Industry Round Table, on the Board of Directors of CEDAP (the French organization of Association Leaders), on the Board of the Center for Association Leadership, and the president of the European Society of Association Executives. He received a degree in agricultural engineering and soil science from the University of Gent and was awarded a doctorate honoris causa in Agriculture by the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).
Peter McPherson
President
Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities
United States of America
Peter McPherson is the president of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), the association of large public universities. McPherson is the former chair of the Dow Jones and Company. He is the founding co-chair of the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa and the chair of the Board of International Fertilizer Development Center, an organization working on fertilizer and seed issues in the developing world. He is also chair of the Board of HarvestPlus, an organization working on breeding crops for better nutrition. Prior to joining APLU, Peter was president of Michigan State University for 11 years. Peter has served as executive vice president of Bank of America, deputy secretary of the U.S. Treasury, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and special assistant to President Gerald Ford.
Namanga Ngongi
President
Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
Kenya
Namanga Ngongi is the president of Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). He has served as the deputy executive director of the World Food Programme as well as undersecretary-general and special representative and head of the UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He began his career alongside farmers in his native Cameroon, where he worked as an agricultural extension officer for the Ministry of Agriculture and was then attaché to the Cameroon Embassy in Rome. Since his retirement from the UN, Namanga has undertaken several high-level missions, including a study on food reserve systems in Africa and coordination of an international conference on disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration in Sierra Leone. He obtained his Ph.D. in Agronomy from Cornell University.
Joseph John Otim
Senior Presidential Advisor
Government of Uganda
Uganda
John Joseph Otim currently serves as senior presidential advisor in the Government of Uganda and the president of the Agricultural Council of Uganda. Previously, he served as a member of Parliament and minister of Animal Industry and Fisheries. He lectured in the faculties of Makerere and Nairobi Universities. He worked as principal research officer and deputy in-Charge of Research and Outreach Programmes in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. He earned a B.Sc. in Agriculture, M.Sc. in Animal Production from Makerere University and a Ph.D. in Animal Nutrition and Veterinary Physiology from Saskatchewan University.
Prabhu Pingali
Deputy Director, Agricultural Development
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
United States of America
Prabhu Pingali is the deputy director of Agricultural Development at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Prior to this, he was the director of the Agricultural and Development Economics Division of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and was a foreign fellow at the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. He was also the president of the International Association of Agricultural Economists, a fellow of the American Agricultural Economics Association, a fellow of the International Association of Agricultural Economists and was appointed to the U.S. National Academies Round Table on Sustainability. Prabhu was the director of the Economics Program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), an agricultural economist at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and an economist in the World Bank’s Agriculture and Rural Development Department. He has authored 10 books and over 100 journal articles and book chapters, and has received several international awards in recognition of his work. He earned a Ph.D. in Economics from North Carolina State University.
Per Pinstrup-Andersen
H.E. Babcock Professor of Food & Nutrition and Public Policy
Cornell University
United States of America
Per Pinstrup-Andersen is the H.E. Babcock Professor of Food, Nutrition and Public Policy, the J. Thomas Clark Professor of Entrepreneurship, and professor of Applied Economics at Cornell University as well as professor of Agricultural Economics at Copenhagen University. He is the former chairman of the Science Council of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and past president of the American Agricultural Economics Association. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Agricultural Economics Association. Per served as IFPRI’s director general; as an economist at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture; and as a professor at Wageningen University. He is the 2001 World Food Prize laureate and has received several other awards. He has a B.Sc. from Danish Agricultural University, a M.S. and Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University, and honorary doctoral degrees from universities in five different countries.
Kenneth Quinn
President
The World Food Prize Foundation
United States of America
Kenneth M. Quinn, former U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia, assumed the leadership of the World Food Prize Foundation, following a 32-year career in the Foreign Service. During his diplomatic career, he served as a rural development advisor in the Mekong Delta; on the National Security Council staff at the White House; and as deputy assistant secretary of state for Southeast Asia. Kenneth’s honors include: the Presidential Distinguished Service Award; the Secretary of State’s Award for Heroism and Valor; and being the only civilian to ever receive the U.S. Army Air Medal. He holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Maryland.
Ursula Schaefer-Preuss
Vice President, Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development
Asian Development Bank
Philippines
Ursula Schaefer-Preuss is the vice-president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development. She is responsible for ADB’s Regional and Sustainable Development Department and Economics and Research Department (Office of the Chief Economist). Prior to joining ADB, she was the director general of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. She was also engaged in bilateral cooperation with countries in Asia, Latin America, and Europe. She has served as chief of cabinet of the German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development and also held postings as alternate executive director of the Inter-American Development Bank, in the Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United Nations, and in the German Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan. She earned her doctorate and master's degree in Economics at the Albert-Ludwig University in Freiburg.
Emmy Simmons
Former Assistant Administrator
United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
United States of America
Emmy Simmons is the former assistant administrator of USAID and an independent consultant on international development issues, with a focus on food, agriculture, and Africa. She serves on the boards of the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and the Society for International Development, as well as several advisory committees focused on agricultural development in Africa and Asia. Emmy participates in activities of the Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability at the National Academies of Science. She worked with USAID for nearly 30 years, and served as the assistant administrator for Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade from 2002-05. She also worked in the Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs in Liberia and taught and conducted research at Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria. She began her international career as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines. She holds an M.Sc. degree in agricultural economics from Cornell University and a B.A. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Meredith Soule
Research Advisor
United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
United States of America
Meredith Soule is a research advisor at USAID working on agricultural research issues within the U.S. Feed the Future Initiative. Before joining USAID, she worked at the USDA Economic Research Service and the International Center for Research on Agroforestry (ICRAF) in Nairobi. Within agricultural research, she focuses on the CGIAR, evaluation and impact assessment, research priority setting, and gender. She is a member of the Steering Committee for the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development program. She holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California at Berkeley.
Kathy Spahn
President and Chief Executive Officer
Helen Keller International
United States of America
Kathy Spahn joined Helen Keller International in 2005 as president and chief executive officer, responsible for global strategy and management of this international development organization dedicated to the prevention of blindness and malnutrition. She is also the chair of the board of directors of InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S.-based nongovernmental organizations focused on the world’s poor and most vulnerable people. She currently serves on the boards of directors of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness and the Bernadotte Foundation for Children’s Eyecare. Kathy has also served as president and executive director of ORBIS International, a global non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention and treatment of blindness in the developing world; and executive director of God’s Love We Deliver, a New York-based organization dedicated to combating malnutrition and hunger among people living with HIV/AIDS and other life-altering illnesses.
M. S. Swaminathan
UNESCO Chair in Ecotechnology
Chairman, M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation
India
M. S. Swaminathan is the chairman of and the UNESCO Chair in Ecotechnology at the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation. Additionally, he is a member of the Parliament of India. He was chairman of the UN Science Advisory Committee to take follow-up action on the Vienna Plan of Action, the FAO Council, and the National Commission on Farmers. He was also the president of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, the World Wide Fund for Nature, the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, and the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences. He served as director of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), as well as many secretariats to the Government of India. He is a plant geneticist by training and has contributed to the agricultural renaissance of India. He has received many awards including the World Food Prize and the Mahatma Gandhi Prize of UNESCO. He is a fellow of many scientific academies and has received 60 honorary doctorate degrees.
Sukhadeo Thorat
Chairman
University Grants Commission
India
Sukhadeo Thorat is the chairman of the University Grants Commission and a professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University. He founded and directed the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies for which he is currently the managing trustee and permanent trustee. He has also served as visiting faculty member in the Department of Economics at Iowa State University, lecturer at Vasantrao Naik College, and research associate at the International Food Policy Research Institute. He has written 21 books and 84 papers on many topics including agriculture, economics, and marginalized people groups. Sukhadeo has received several awards such as the Government of India’s Padma Shree Award and has received honorary degrees from seven universities. He received an M.A. in Economics from Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, a Diploma in Economic Planning from the Warsaw School of Economics (formerly Main School of Planning and Statistics), and an M.Phil./Ph.D. in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Ricardo Uauy
Professor
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
United Kingdom
Ricardo Uauy is a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and at the University of Chile, and has directed the Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology (INTA), as well as INTA’s training programs, Clinical Research Center, Division of Human Nutrition and Medical Sciences, and UN University activities. He served as president of the Chilean Nutrition Society and the International Union of Nutritional Sciences council; as expert on many WHO/FAO nutrition committees; as chairman of the UN Administrative Committee on Coordination and Subcommittee on Nutrition Advisory Group; and a member of the NIH (USA) Nutrition Study Section and the Novartis Foundation Scientific Advisory. Ricardo has contributed to over 280 scientific publications, has co-edited three books, and is on the editorial boards of four journals. He received the American Society for Nutritional Sciences McCollum award and is a member of the Chilean Academy of Medicine. He received his M.D. from the University of Chile, completed residency training in Pediatrics at Harvard University and a Neonatology fellowship at Yale University. He obtained his doctoral degree in Nutritional Biochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Barbara Underwood
Retired, Adjunct Professor of Nutrition
Columbia University
United States of America
Barbara Underwood is a retired adjunct professor of Nutrition at Columbia University’s Institute of Human Nutrition. Additionally she has held professorial positions at the University of Maryland, Pennsylvania State University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has served as the assistant director for International Programs of the National Institutes of Health National Eye Institute, the focal point for micronutrient malnutrition at the World Health Organization, a scholar in residence at the Institute of Medicine, and the president of the International Union of Nutritional Science. She has published extensively in the area of Vitamin A deficiency, micronutrient malnutrition, and maternal and child nutrition. Barbara received the International Union of Nutrition Science Award for International Nutrition, the International Nutrition Foundation Award for service to the public, the American Institute of Nutrition Borden Award for Nutritional Research and has been a fellow at the American Society for Nutritional Sciences and International Union of Nutritional Sciences.
Joachim von Braun
Director
Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn
Germany
Joachim von Braun is the director of the Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, and professor for Economic and Technological Change. Prior to this, he served as director general of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and was a professor for Food Economics and Policy at Kiel University. Joachim serves on the boards of several journals, as well as international advisory bodies of research and policy organizations, such as the Bioeconomy Council advising the German Government, and the Advisory Board for Joint Programming Initiative on Agriculture, Food Security, and Climate Change of the European Union. He was president of the International Association of Agricultural Economists, is a member of Academies in Germany and China, and fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences. He has received an honorary doctoral degree from the University of Hohenheim and the Bertebos Prize of the Swedish Academy of Agricultural Sciences. He received a doctoral degree from University of Goettingen, Germany.
Jeff Waage
Director
London International Development Centre
United Kingdom
Jeff Waage is the director of the London International Development Centre (LIDC) and a professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies. He has served CAB International, an intergovernmental agricultural development organization, as a manager of its sustainable agricultural research and training programmes through centres in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Jeff taught at Imperial College for 10 years and also ran its Agricultural and Environmental Department. He has worked extensively with UN organizations and the World Bank, and on panels in UK Research Councils and Office of Science, particularly in sustainable agriculture, bioinvasions, and emerging disease threats. He has a special interest in interdisciplinarity and recently led the establishment of the crossCollege Leverhulme Centre for Integrative Research on Agriculture and Health, which he chairs. He was awarded an OBE for his contributions to science. A graduate of Princeton University, he did his Ph.D. in ecology at Imperial College London.
Derek Yach
Senior Vice President, Global Health and Agriculture Policy
PepsiCo
United States of America
Derek Yach is senior vice president of Global Health Policy at PepsiCo where he leads the internal Global Human Sustainability Task Force and engagement with international policy, research, and scientific groups. Previously he headed global health at the Rockefeller Foundation and was professor of Public Health and head of the Division of Global Health at Yale University. He was also executive director of the World Health Organization (WHO), where he served as cabinet director; helped place health issues on the agenda of governments, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector; led development of WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control; and led the development of the Global Strategy on Diet and Physical Activity. Derek is a South African national; he established the Centre for Epidemiological Research at the South African Medical Research Council. He has authored/co-authored over 200 articles and serves on many advisory boards including the Clinton Global Initiative, the World Economic Forum, the PAHEF Foundation, the Oxford Health Alliance, and Vitality USA.
Shenggen Fan (Ex Officio)
Director General
International Food Policy Research Institute
United States of America
Shenggen Fan is the director general of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Prior to this position, he served as the director of IFPRI’s Development Strategy and Governance Division. Before joining IFPRI, he held positions at the International Service for National Agricultural Research in the Netherlands and the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology at the University of Arkansas. He has served on the editorial boards of various academic journals and is currently an Executive Committee member of the International Association of Agricultural Economists. He has received several awards, including the Distinguished Professional Contribution Award from the Southern Agricultural Economics Association and the Outstanding Alumni Award in Applied Economics from the University of Minnesota. Shenggen received his Ph.D. in applied economics from the University of Minnesota and his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from Nanjing Agricultural University in China.
IFPRI Project Manager
Rajul Pandya-Lorch
Chief of Staff and Head of the 2020 Vision Initiative
International Food Policy Research Institute
United States of America
Rajul Pandya-Lorch concurrently serves at IFPRI as chief of staff in the Director General's Office and head of the 2020 Vision for Food, Agriculture, and the Environment Initiative. She has facilitated three major international conferences on (1) “Sustainable Food Security for All by 2020”, in Bonn, Germany on September 4-6, 2001; (2) “Assuring Food and Nutrition Security in Africa by 2020”, in Kampala, Uganda on April 1-3, 2004; and (3) “Taking Action for the World’s Poor and Hungry People”, in Beijing, China, on October 17-19, 2007, and is now organizing one on “Leveraging Agriculture for Improving Nutrition and Health”, in Delhi, India, on February 10-12, 2011. The Agricultural and Applied Economics Association presented Rajul, along with David Spielman, with its 2010 Quality of Communication Award for the work on Millions Fed: Proven Successes in Agricultural Development. She has also received the American Agricultural Economics Association’s 2002 award for Distinguished Policy Contribution, along with Per Pinstrup-Andersen and Mark Rosegrant. Rajul earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Wellesley College and a master's degree in public and international affairs from Princeton University.