Poster_Lecture.pdf
The Applied Plant Sciences Graduate Student Association at the University of Minnesota is glad to announce the fifth annual Borlaug Memorial Lecture. This will be held on October 10th, 2011.
Dr. Monty Jones, director of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) will be speaking (see attached file for his biography). The lecture will take place in 105 Cargill Building at 2:00 p.m. (note time changed), followed by a reception at 3:00 p.m.
Thanks,
The APS Graduate Student Association
Brief Biography of Professor Monty P. Jones
Professor Monty Patrick Jones, a Sierra Leonean, is the Executive Director of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and Chairman of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR). He was awarded the prestigious World Food Prize in 2004 in recognition of his discovery of the genetic process to create the New Rice for Africa (NERICA) which gives higher yields, shorter growth cycles and more protein content than its Asian and African parents. He was the first African to be honoured with this highly regarded prize. In 2010 he became the first recipient of the Niigata International Food Award.
Professor Jones has spent the past 24 years working in international agricultural research, starting as a scientist and working his way to his current top leadership positions at continental and global level. His celebrated work on NERICA has made it possible for countries in West, Central and East Africa to increase rice production thereby increasing their household food security and enabling them to cut back on expensive rice imports. He has published more than 100 scientific papers and articles.
As the Executive Director of FARA he has been instrumental in mobilising political support at the highest level for increased investment in African agriculture to improve its productivity and ultimately its impact on the 60-70% of Africans who depend on this sector for their livelihood. As the Chairman of GFAR he is leading a global effort to reform the global agricultural research system in order to improve its effectiveness and accountability.
In recognition of his outstanding contribution towards improving food security in Africa, Professor Jones has been honoured with numerous other awards, namely the National Order of Merit of Côte d'Ivoire conferred on him in 2001 by the President of that country and the insignia of the Grand Officer of the order of the Rokel conferred on him in 2004 by the President of Sierra Leone. He has also received four honorary doctorate degrees - Philosophia Doctor (Honoris causa) from major universities in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Sierra Leone and South Africa. Time magazine named him among the 100 most influential people in 2007 and in 2010 the University of the Free State in South Africa appointed him to serve as an Extra-ordinary Professor.
