El Batan, Texcoco, Mexico
5 March 2002

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) today announced the appointment of a new Director General, Dr. Masa Iwanaga, a Japanese national.

Dr. Iwanaga has said that he will “build on CIMMYT’s strong mission to end hunger and poverty in the developing world through clearly focused research on maize and wheat.”

“Maize and wheat are two of the world’s three most important staple foods, and they are essential to food security and socioeconomic development,” he said. “CIMMYT has an impressive record in improving the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of poor people, in rural as well as urban areas. My task in the coming years is to ensure that CIMMYT continues to play a critical role in developing the new knowledge and science-based technologies that will help farmers and consumers overcome malnutrition, improve their incomes, and move from subsistence into an economy marked by globalization and interdependence.” He added, “We seek to meet these challenges and at the same time ensure responsible stewardship of the world’s natural resources, including its genetic resources.”

Dr. Iwanaga, who received a PhD in Plant Breeding and Plant Genetics from the University of Wisconsin, USA, has more than two decades of research and management experience in international development. His association with the research centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) began with the International Potato Center (CIP) in Peru, where he was a cytogeneticist. Subsequently he was Head of the Genetic Resources Unit at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Colombia and Deputy Director General (Programs) at the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) in Italy. Most recently Dr. Iwanaga has been the Director of the Biological Resources Division of the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS). All of these appointments conferred considerable experience in areas of strategic importance for international research and development, including a strong understanding of new plant breeding technology, intellectual property rights, the protection and management of genetic resources, and the intricacies of research funding.

Dr. Iwanaga is the first East Asian citizen to become a director of a CGIAR Center.

CIMMYT Chairman of the Board Dr. Alex F. McCalla, of the University of California, Davis, USA, said,
“CIMMYT was fortunate in having had more than one very well qualified candidate to become its new
Director General. After lengthy discussion and careful deliberation, the Board has selected Dr. Iwanaga
because of his broad international experience in a variety of institutional settings. This experience will be critical to determining CIMMYT’s future direction in the global context. Dr. Iwanaga is a man of vision with a proven record as a leader and manager, and we are pleased that he will join us at CIMMYT in July 2002.”

CIMMYT, a Future Harvest Center of the CGIAR, is a nonprofit research and training organization
dedicated to helping the poor in low-income countries. The Center works in more than 100 countries and with thousands of scientists and farmers worldwide. CIMMYT and its research partners help alleviate poverty by increasing the profitability, productivity, and sustainability of maize and wheat farming systems.