DANFORTH CENTER - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Interim Co - Vice President of Research and Member
- Member of the Interim Co - Vice President of Research Professor Biology, Saint Louis University
Allison Miller is the Interim Co-Vice President of Research and Member. Her research focuses on the biology and evolution of long-lived (perennial) crops that meet the needs of people and the planet. Allison is a tenured member of the faculty in the Department of Biology at Saint Louis University. She serves as the Director of the NSF-funded New Roots for Restoration Biology Integration Institute, which aims to advance long-lived, resilient systems in nature and agriculture. Allison earned a B.S. from Miami University, an M.S. from Colorado State University, and a Ph.D. from Washington University. In 2025 she received the George Englemann Interdisciplinary Award from the St. Louis Academy of Sciences and the Excellence in Graduate Mentoring Award from the Saint Louis University College of Arts and Sciences. She was a featured speaker at TEDx St. Louis in 2024.
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- Chancellor, Washington University in St. Louis
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- Retired EVP, Global Human Resources, World Wide Technology, LLC President, WWT Foundation
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- Interim COO and Vice President of People and Culture
Anna Dibble is Interim COO and Vice President of People and Culture, where she leads the Danforth Center's people strategy and cultivates a collaborative, values centric culture. With a deep passion for community and organizational development, Anna is committed to ensuring that the Danforth Center is a place where people feel valued, empowered, and inspired to do their best work. Prior to joining the Danforth Center in 2017, Anna worked at Saint Louis University where she spent 11 years in progressive roles in human resources and served as an adjunct professor. Anna holds an MBA from Saint Louis University and a bachelor's degree in business administration from Monmouth College.
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- Senior Vice President and Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer, Stifel Financial
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- Charles Allen Thomas Professor and Chair, Department of Chemistry, Washington University in St. Louis
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- Chancellor, University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign Vice President, University of Illinois System
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- Owner, President, and Chairman, Kennelwood Pet Resort
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- Director, Interdisciplinary Plant Group
Director, Interdisciplinary Plant Group (IPG), Professor in the Division of Plant Science and Technology, and the Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri - Columbia
Director, Interdisciplinary Plant Group (IPG), Professor in the Division of Plant Science and Technology, and the Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri - Columbia
Job Titles:
- President
- President of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
Giles Oldroyd is President of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center where he is dedicated to advancing the Center's mission to improve the human condition through plant science. With more than 350 employees, the Danforth Center is the largest independent plant science institute in the world.
A plant geneticist, Giles is internationally recognized for pioneering research to understand symbiotic interactions between plants and beneficial bacteria and fungi that aid in the uptake of nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus. He is among the top 1% of highly cited plant scientists across the globe, and one of only a few hundred scientists in the world who are elected members in both the UK's Royal Society and the US National Academy of Sciences, the two foremost scientific organizations in the English-speaking world.
From 2012 until 2025, he led an international programme funded by the Gates Foundation and the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to develop nitrogen-fixing cereals.
By bridging scientific research with practical applications, Giles actively collaborates with industry and academic partners to tackle pressing global food security and environmental challenges. Giles has received numerous awards and in recognition of his impactful work, he was named one of the Top Agri-Food Pioneers by the World Food Prize Foundation in 2024.
Originally from the UK, Giles received his undergraduate degree in biology from the University of East Anglia and earned his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. His early research on beneficial microbial interactions began as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University. In 2002 he joined the John Innes Centre, UK as an independent investigator. In 2017 he moved to the University of Cambridge, initially as a Principal Investigator at the Sainsbury Laboratory, later as the Russell R. Geiger Professor of Crop Science and Director of the Crop Science Centre. In 2025 he took on the role of President of the Danforth Center where he continues to lead transformative advancements in plant science.
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Founder
- Olympian, Founder and CEO of Jackie Joyner - Kersee Foundation
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- Partner, Johnson Bender Asset Management
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- Associate Dean for Research, College of Agricultural Sciences, University Distinguished Professor, Colorado State University
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- Charles Allen Thomas Professor and Chair, Department of Chemistry, Washington University in St. Louis
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- Co - CEO and Co - Founder, Tilia Holdings, LLC
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- Emeritus Director Retired Chairman of the Board, McDonnell Douglas Corporation
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- Professor of Plant Biology, USDA - ARS, Photosynthesis Research Unit, University of Illinois - Urbana - Champaign
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- President and Director, Missouri Botanical Garden
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- President, Bank of America St. Louis and Market Executive for Business Banking, Bank of America
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- CS Research & Development Lead, Bayer US - Crop Science
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- Founder and Managing Director, QRM Capital
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- President, University of Missouri System Chancellor, University of Missouri - Columbia
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- Professor, Department of Agronomy, University of Wisconsin - Madison
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- Interim Vice President for Impact
- Member of the Interim Vice President for Impact
Nigel Taylor is the Interim Vice President for Impact, Member and Dorothy J. King Distinguished Investigator. He leads a number of projects related to the improvement of crops important to Sub Saharan Africa (Cassava, tef). Nigel's research in collaboration with colleagues in Kenya and Rwanda has advanced virus-resistant cassava into regulatory field trials as a critical step toward delivering enhanced planting materials to farmers.
Prior to joining the Danforth Center, Nigel worked at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. A native of Scotland, Nigel received his bachelor's degree in botany from University of Glasgow and his Ph.D. in plant tissue culture from the University of Bath, United Kingdom.
Job Titles:
- Chief Visionary Officer and Founder, Impossible Foods
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- Co - Vice President
- Member of the Interim Co - Vice President of Research Professor, Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri - Columbia
Keith Slotkin is the Interim Co-Vice President for Research and is a Professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia in the Division of Biological Sciences. Half of his research program focuses on how plant cells identify and control sequences that insert into plant DNA, called transposable elements and transgenes. These discoveries enable the other half of his research program, which aims to create tools that function in living plant cells to improve crops through genome engineering. Keith is also the Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Spearhead Bio, a startup leading the next generation of powerful native genome engineering tools to accelerate the development and launch of new transgenic and non-transgenic crops. Keith received a B.S. from the University of Arizona, his Ph.D. from the University of California-Berkeley, and was a NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Job Titles:
- Retired General Counsel, Senior Vice President and Senior Partner, FleishmanHillard
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- Chief Investment Officer, Seed 2 Growth ( S2G ) Ventures
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- Retired SVP, Secretary and General Counsel, Emerson
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- Chairman, HBS Leadership Strategies Advisory Services
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- Managing Director, RiverVest Venture Partners
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- Immediate past Chair Chairman and CEO, Schnuck Markets, Inc
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- Co - Founder and Principal, Sage Capital, LLC
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- Managing Partner, Egis Capital Partners