Director General of IRRI
Dr. Robert "Bob" Zeigler is an internationally
respected plant pathologist with more than 30 years of experience in
agricultural research in the developing world. He is the director general of
IRRI.
Current activities
As director general, Bob is the chief executive officer
(CEO) of IRRI, who directly manages and administers its affairs in accordance
with the policies and decisions of the board of trustees. As CEO and in close
consultation with the IRRI Board of Trustees he sets the Institute’s strategic
direction. He is also a passionate spokesperson on a wide range of issues that
affect rice growers and consumers worldwide.
His professional life spanned Africa, Latin America, US, and
Asia . He has had a productive research
career on diseases of rice that focused on host-plant resistance, pathogen and
vector population genetics, and their interactions to develop durable
resistance and sustainable disease management practices.
As Bob's career moved increasingly towards research management
his interests expanded to include broader crop management issues, the social
forces shaping the agricultural environment, and finally the economic and
political arena that frames food security and poverty issues. He has published
over 100 scientific works in these areas and often serves as an expert resource
on rice security in the regional and global media.
Bob is also the founding chairman of the board of the IRRI
Fund Singapore, an
incorporated nonprofit charitable organization established to raise the profile
of international rice research and generate funding for it. He serves as the
Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association of International Agricultural Research
Centers that
manages a wide range of employee benefits for internationally recruited staff
for the 15 CGIAR centers and several
affiliated centers. He also serves on the Golden Rice Humanitarian Board.
Background
Bob previously worked at IRRI from 1992 to 1998 as a plant
pathologist. During this period, he led the Rainfed Lowland Rice Research
Program and then later the Irrigated Rice Research Program. After completing
undergraduate work in 1972, he joined the Peace Corps and spent 2 years as a
science teacher in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa .
He later joined the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Colombia
Starting in 1982, he spent 3 years in Burundi
He became professor and head of the Department of Plant
Pathology and director of the Plant Biotechnology Center
at Kansas State
University in the United States Mexico
He has completed corporate governance programs from Harvard Business School
He is the chairman of the board of directors of the Association
of International Agricultural Research Centers (AIARC). The AIARC, incorporated
in the Commonwealth
of Virginia
He has authored and co-authored well over 100 refereed
international journal articles, reports, and scientific papers and has
delivered numerous invited lectures worldwide. He is married and has three
grown children.
Education
-Doctor of Philosophy (1982), Cornell University
-Master of Science (1978), Oregon State
University Forest Ecology. Minor field: Soils/Statistics.
-Bachelor of Science (High
Honors) (1972), University
of Illinois
Work history
-Secondary School Science
Teacher, College Musim, Mokala ,
Zaire
-Technician, Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research
Center , Seattle
-Oregon State University
-Cornell University
-Visiting Research Associate,
CIAT Cassava Program (1980-1981).
-Technical adviser, Burundi
Maize Program, Institut des Sciences Agronomique du Burundi. Employed by the
International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Ottawa , Canada
-Senior Staff Plant
Pathologist, CIAT Rice Program (1985-1992).
-Leader, Rice Program,
Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia (1986-1992).
-Leader, Rainfed Lowland Rice
Research Program and Plant Pathologist, IRRI (1992-1996).
-Leader, Irrigated Rice
Research Program and Plant Pathologist, IRRI (1992-1998).
-Professor and Head, Department
of Plant Pathology and Director, Plant
Biotechnology Center , Kansas
-Director, Generation Challenge
Program (2004-March 2005).
-Director General,
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) (2005-current).
Awards and associations
-Sigma Chi (1982).
-Outstanding Research
Publication Award from the International
Center
-Outstanding Research
Publication Award from the International
Center
-Gamma Sigma Delta (Honor
Society of Agriculture-elected 2000).
-International Service Award,
the American Phytopathological Society (2001).
-Who’s Who in Agricultural
Higher Education (2003).
-“For the Cause of Agricultural
Development in Vietnam
-Doctor of Science (Honoris
Causa) from Sardar Vallavh Bhai
Patel University
of Agriculture and Technology, Modupuram, Uttar
Pradesh , India
-Time Magazine Global Innovator
Award (2007).
-Fellow, American Association
for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
-Leader Alumni Award from the Oregon State
University College
-Fellow of the American
Phytopathological Society (2009).
-E.C. Stackman Award from the University of Minnesota
-National Institute of Food and
Agriculture (NIFA) Partnership Award for Innovative Program Models (2010).
-Medal “for the cause of
science and technology development in Vietnam
-Doctor of Science (Honoris
Causa) from Govind
Ballabh Pant
University
-International Plant
Protection Award of Distinction from the International Association for
the Plant Protection Sciences (IAPPS) (2011).
-Leadership in Science Public
Service Award from the American Society of Plant Biologists (2013).
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Selected recent publications
1-Zeigler, R. S. Bringing hope,
improving lives. In: Science, technology and trade for peace and prosperity
[electronic resource]: proceedings of the 26th International Rice Research
Conference, 9-12 October 2006, New Delhi, India, ed. by P. K Aggarwal, et al.,
p. 15-22. New Delhi : National Academy
2-Zeigler, R. S. Title Rice and
the millennium development goals: the International Rice Research Institute's
strategic plan 2007-2015. Source Paddy Water Environ. 5(2): 67-71. June 2007.
3-Zeigler RS, Why rice is still
important in Asia and what IRRI is doing about
it. In: Does rice have a future in Asia ? p.
3-11, ill. [S.l.: S.n.], 2007.
4-Nutrient-pest
interactions under irrigated lowland rice production systems with farmer's
fertilizer practice and site-specific nutrient management in South &
Southeast Asia, Cruz PCS, Dobermann A, Du F, Simbahan GC, Hill JE, Zeigler RS,
Dela Pena FA, Samiayyan K, Suparyon, Tuat NV, Zhong Z. Philippine Journal of
Crop Science, Volume: 32 Issue: 1 Pages: 13-28 Published: APR 2007.
5-Zeigler, R. S., Sustainability of rice production systems:
water, soil, and ecosystem services. In: Rice, water, and forests, ed. by S. J.
Banta, p. 83-115, ill. Ref. Los Banos, Laguna: Asia
Rice Foundation, 2008.
6-Zeigler, R. S. , The relevance of rice. Rice 1(1): 3-10,
ill. Ref. Sept. 2008.
7-Plant Diseases and the World’s Dependence on Rice, R. S.
Zeigler and S. Savary in The Role of Plant Pathology in Food Safety and Food
Security, Plant Pathology in the 21st Century, 2010, Volume 3, Part 1, 3-9.
Find more publications:
Google
Scholar (Scholarly
articles by “RS Zeigler”)
ISI
Web of Knowledge (Peer-reviewed
journals attributed to “Zeigler RS”)
IRRI’s
rice bibliography (Rice
related publications for “Zeigler, RS”).
See also:
Written on Wednesday, 05
December 2012 13:04
Written on Wednesday, 31
October 2012 08:19
Source: Dr. Robert Zeigler from IRRI Website
Edited and posted by Hồ Đình Hải
