14 Facts About Geoffrey Hawtin

Geoffrey Hawtin has headed two CGIAR Research Centers and currently is on the Executive Board of the Crop Trust.

Geoffrey Hawtin was born in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire and attended William Ellis School in Parliament Hill.

Geoffrey Hawtin grew up in the city but developed his interest in agriculture by working on farms during the summer.

Geoffrey Hawtin obtained both his MA and PhD from Magdalene College, Cambridge University, UK.

Geoffrey Hawtin conducted his doctoral thesis research on genetic variation in soybean at Makerere University in Uganda.

Geoffrey Hawtin initiated work on winter sown chickpeas for the Mediterranean region, which led to increased cold tolerance and Ascochyta blight resistance.

In 1981, the 32-year-old Geoffrey Hawtin was appointed the Deputy Director General of ICARDA in Syria.

Geoffrey Hawtin was involved in establishing the International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain, both overseeing IDRC's role as implementing agency and chairing the Donor Support Group.

Geoffrey Hawtin served as a leader of the CGIAR delegation to the negotiations of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources, which was agreed upon in 2001.

In 2004, Geoffrey Hawtin joined a team to investigate the feasibility of establishing the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on the Norwegian island of Spitzbergen.

Geoffrey Hawtin was the Interim Director General of the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical in Colombia from 2008 to 2009 and was at the forefront of transformative tropical agricultural research.

Geoffrey Hawtin's tenure was marked by his focus on prioritizing the sustainability, productivity and profitability of smallholder farming systems.

Geoffrey Hawtin has served on several boards of trustees of non-governmental organizations dedicated to agricultural research or crop diversity:.

Geoffrey Hawtin has authored or co-authored more than 100 scientific and technical publications.