Bassersdorf, Switzerland
April 2013

The ISTA Executive Committee is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Benjamin (Beni) Kaufman to the position of Secretary General of the International Seed Testing Association, beginning 1 July 2013.

Dr. Kaufman has over 17 years of experience in developing and managing GMO and genetic purity testing laboratories in the private seed sector. He is also an experienced
scientist in the area of molecular genetics analysis and related technologies. Dr. Kaufman is currently a member of the ISTA GMO Committee, and was a member of the GMO Task Force. He has also contributed to the ISTA Variety Committee, and participated in many ISTA Annual Meetings and workshops.

Dr. Kaufman has a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from the University of Illinois, and an M.Sc. from Tel Aviv University. He is currently the Manager of the Nucleic Acid Analysis Lab for DuPont Pioneer.

Dr. Kaufman’s responsibilities as Secretary General will include managing the ISTA Secretariat, which supports and coordinates ISTA activities that include membership, the Technical Committees, and scientific and international relations.

The Executive Committee is confident that Dr. Kaufman will acknowledge this and will lead the Secretariat to new successes in serving the ISTA membership and their goals for the future. Everyone’s talents and experience in the Secretariat are very important and will form the basis to work as one team along with the Executive Committee to share the coming challenges and successes.

The ISTA Executive Committee wishes Benjamin Kaufman all the best in his new position of ISTA Secretary General, and looks forward to working with him.

Since Dr. Kaufman cannot take up his duties before 1 July 2013, the ISTA Executive Committee has sought to fill the gap with an interim solution.

Heinz Schmid, a former ISTA Executive Officer from 1992 to 1999, has been contracted to take charge of the Secretariat for a period of about three months on a parttime (60%) basis, starting from 11 March.

Together with his wife, Mr. Schmid now runs his own consulting company, which is mainly active in the sectors of sustainability, company excellence, and leadership and personal development. He still knows ISTA very well, and has kept contact with the Association by, for example, holding the position of quality delegate of the Swiss seed testing laboratory up to last year. He is also a consultant to seed laboratories, in particular in Asia and South America, to help them achieve ISTA accreditation. To date he has performed more than 100 ISTA audits as a system auditor.

Heinz Schmid will concentrate on routine operations and preparations for the Congress, until Dr. Kaufman takes over as the new Secretary General.

Heinz Schmid will usually be available at the ISTA Secretariat on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. His e-mail address is heinz.schmid@ISTA.ch.
 
The ISTA Executive Committee kindly invites you to give your full support to Heinz Schmid during his interim management mission.