Prof. Cary Fowler is awarded the diploma of a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences
On May 28, 2013 the Vavilov Institute’s Scientific Council at the meeting dedicated to the International Biodiversity Day awarded the diploma of a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Vavilov’s memorial medal to Prof. Cary Fowler, former Executive Director of Global Crop Diversity Trust. The awarding ceremony was held in the name of the Presidium of the Academy.
Born in the south of the United States, Prof. Cary Fowler received his education in the U.S. and Canada. He worked in various European and other countries, including the system of FAO of the United Nations. Thirty years of Cary’s life were dedicated to the problems of crop diversity conservation. In 1995, he was elected leader of Global Crop Diversity Trust cosponsored by FAO and other international institutions. Financial aid provided by the Trust helped VIR to maintain, reproduce and renovate its global collection of plant genetic resources, secure modern level of management for the collection, and send valuable duplicate accessions for safety storage at Svalbard Seed Vault in the Arctic, of which Cary was one of the initiators.
The author of over 150 scientific publications on agricultural research, worldwide food crisis, biodiversity and intellectual property, Cary Fowler received a number of prominent international awards, including two honorary doctorates. For his outstanding contribution to the conservation of Vavilov’s global collection of plant genetic resources, Cary was elected foreign member emeritus of the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences. At present Prof. Cary Fowler is a member of numerous expert groups, international panels and committees.
