CORNELL UNIVERSITY - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- India Country Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Communication and Outreach Coordinator
Andrea Besley is the Communication and Outreach Coordinator for ABSPII. Andrea holds a BA in Political Studies from Queen's University (Kingston, Canada) and a MBA in Marketing from the University of Ottawa (Ottawa, Canada). After her BA, she worked for the Employment Equity division of Human Resources Development Canada, followed by an internship with a small business in southern Hungary. Upon her return to Canada, she began work as a professional event planner, organizing conferences for a national political party, the federal government, and high-tech firms. She left event planning to earn her MBA. Upon graduation, Andrea took a position as a consultant working on stakeholder participation and public governance projects for the University of Ottawa's Center on Governance. She joined Cornell in 2002, where she managed contracts and organized events within the Department of Applied Economics and Management until she moved to ABSPII in January, 2005.
Job Titles:
- Bangladesh Country Coordinator
Dr. Raman has a Ph.D. in Agriculture and Horticulture from the University of Reading, UK. He was a Post-Doctorate at Cornell University, USA, exploring potato integrated pest management. As a Director of ISAAA AmeriCenter (1993-96), he was responsible for biotechnology transfer in Latin America. He developed and implemented many projects related to potato improvement in developing countries as the Program Leader of Integrated Pest Management Program at the International Potato Center, Lima-Peru (1978-1993). He has worked at Cornell University 1977-78 and now from 1993 as the Executive Director of Cornell International Collaborative Project in Potato Late Blight Control and Associate Director of International Programs, responsible for implementing several projects in biotechnology transfer and teaching. Currently, Dr. K.V. Raman is Associate Director of ABSPII and is located at Cornell University. He is responsible for South Asia (Bangladesh and India) programs and for the overall coordination and facilitation of ABSPII projects.
Job Titles:
- Fellow of the International Council of Management Consulting Institutes
- South Asia Regional Coordinator
K. Vijayaraghavan (Vijay) is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) and a Fellow of the International Council of Management Consulting Institutes (ICMCI). He holds a Masters and Fellowship in public accounting and management consulting, with focus on strategic and technology management consulting. He is the Chief Executive of Sathguru Management Consultants Pvt Ltd, a large consulting firm based in Hyderabad, India. Sathguru advises government organizations, multilateral and bilateral development institutions, private enterprises and NGOs in several countries across the Asian region. Vijay is engaged in shaping number of policy initiatives in life sciences for India and is a member of selected national committees constituted for this purpose. Sathguru is an Associate of the program Cornell-in-India. Vijay is co-directing Cornells program in India, which extends to several other countries in Asia. He is Regional Coordinator for ABSPII South Asian activities (in India and Bangladesh).
Job Titles:
- Indonesia Country Coordinator
Dr. Herman earned his B.S. in Entomology from the University of Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and his M.S. and Ph.D. (1990) in Plant Pathology from the University of Georgia, Athens, USA. He is currently Senior Scientist in the Molecular Biology Research Division of the Indonesian Center for Agricultural Biotechnology and Genetic Resources Research and Development (ICABIOGRAD), in Bogor, Indonesia. Since 1997, Dr. Herman has coordinated the Plant Group of Biosafety and Food Safety Technical Team in Indonesia. He is currently the Secretary of the National Committee on Genetic Resources, as well as the Vice Chair of the Indonesian Society of Agricultural Biotechnology. From 1996 to 2002, Dr. Herman was Country Coordinator of ABSPI. He is currently Country Coordinator for Indonesia for ABSPII.
Peter Gregory has over 30 years of experience in agricultural biotechnology. He received a B.Sc. (Honors) in Botany and a Ph.D. in Plant Biochemistry from King's College, University of London, England. He is currently Director for Biotechnology, International Programs and International Professor of Plant Breeding (Adjunct) in Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He also consults extensively for public and private sector clients. Prior to joining Cornell, Dr. Gregory led the biotechnology practices at two Washington, DC-based consulting firms, Novigen Sciences International (now Exponent, Inc.) and Jellinek, Schwartz & Connolly, Inc. Prior to that, Dr. Gregory was an Advisor in the Rural Development Department at the World Bank. Earlier, Dr. Gregory worked for 12 years as the Deputy Director General for Research at the International Potato Center (CIP), Lima, Peru. The first 11 years of Dr. Gregory's career was in the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics at Cornell University where he became a tenured professor and was also appointed as Assistant Director for Research in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Robert W. Herdt received his PhD at the University of Minnesota in Agricultural Economics after obtaining his undergraduate and Masters' degree at Cornell. He is currently Adjunct International Professor of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell. For 17 years he was on the staff of the Rockefeller Foundation in New York as Program Director in charge of the Foundation's work on agriculture and most recently as Vice President responsible for the Foundation's budget and for oversight of its agricultural, health and overseas programs. He earlier served as Scientific Advisor to the CGIAR Secretariat at the World Bank in Washington from 1983 to 1986 and for 10 years before that was Economist at the International Rice Research Institute in Los Banos, Philippines. He is author or co-author of six books or monographs including The Rice Economy of Asia, with Randolph Barker. He advises the management team of ABSPII.
Job Titles:
- Co - Director
- Co - Director of ABSPII
Ronnie Coffman is the Co-Director of ABSPII. He is also International Professor of Plant Breeding, Director of International Programs of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) at Cornell University , and Principal Investigator of the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat (DRRW) project. Previous positions include Associate Dean for Research for CALS, Director of Cornell University's Agricultural Experiment Station, and Plant Breeder at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Coffman's work has been important to the development of improved rice varieties grown on several million hectares throughout the world. He has collaborated extensively with institutions in the developing world and has served as a board member for several international institutes. His Ph.D. is from Cornell and undergraduate work was done at the University of Kentucky, his home state.
Tammy Thomas is the ABPSII Financial Manager. Tammy manages all financial aspects of the ABSPII program including budget preparation and financial reporting. She also serves as the Business Administrator for the Department of International Programs of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University. Tammy has worked at Cornell for over 20 years in a financial capacity including the Department of Biochemistry, Statutory Finance Office, CALS Deans Office, the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics and joined International Programs team in 2003. Tammy is currently working towards a degree in Business Administration at Tompkins Cortland Community College and Cornell University.
Job Titles:
- East Africa Regional Coordinator