CIMMYT review 1978

Abstract

If we profile CIMMYT history in a diagram, we cannot chart a smooth upward-moving line; rather we see a series of steps - each step reflecting a new situation, new problems, -new oPPortunities, and sometimes new leadership chosen for the road ahead. In 1978, CIMMYT reaches another of those steps. At the close of the year, CIMMYT's leadership will be taken up by a 48-year-old agricultural administrator, Robert D. Havener. The new Director brings to CIMMYT a mix of experience suited to the needs of CIMMYT in the 1980's. Havener grew up as a farm boy in the U.S. corn belt in the depression years of the 1930's; he earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in agriculture and economics from Ohio State University; he served in the extension service find as manager of an agricultural cooperative in his home state, then moved into an international career. For four years he was advisor to the distinguished Rural Development Academy at Comilla, Bangladesh; then six years as advisor on agricultural research and development projects in Pakistan; then head of the Arid Lands Development Program (ALAD) at Beirut. Under Havener's creative leadership, ALAD services spread to 20 countries in the Mideast, North Africa, and tropical eastern Africa. Havener was designated executive officer to organize CIMMYT's sister institute, ICARDA (International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas). Next, taking leave from Asia, Havener earned the degree of Master of Public Administration at Harvard University, then joined the New York staff of the Ford Foundation, still responsible for agricultural projects in developing countries. In New York he served with Foundation officers who had helped to create several international agricultural centers and to shape their programs. Thus Havener brings to CIMMYT seventeen years of successful work with developing countries. He has first-hand knowledge of LDC (less developed country) governments and experience with the financial donors who support the international centers. To match Havener's fresh leadership, CIMMYT Trustees in 1978 elected four prominent agricultural scientists as new Trustees and appointed them to the Program Committee of the Board. The new members include one each from Ecuador, Sudan, Germany, and Japan. Problems and opportunities awaiting CIMMYT's new leadership can already be anticipated. But the outlook will be clearer if we first trace CIMMYT's evolution, and describe the momentum which carries over into the years ahead