Sir Gordon Conway

Sir Gordon Conway

Sir Gordon Conway was born in the United Kingdom. He attended the universities of Bangor, Cambridge, West Indies (Trinidad) and California (Davis) studying agricultural ecology.  In the 1960s, he worked to develop integrated pest management programs for the State of Sabah in Malaysia. In 1970, he joined the faculty of Imperial College where he now serves as Professor of International Development. 

In 1976, Professor Conway set up the Centre for Environmental Technology at the college. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, he lived and worked extensively abroad in Asia and the Middle East working for such institutions as the Ford Foundation, the World Bank and USAID. He also directed the Sustainable Agriculture Program at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex.  From 1998 to 2004, Professor Conway served as President of the Rockefeller Foundation. Subsequently, he served as Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Department for International Development as well as President of the Royal Geographical Society.   

Professor Conway has been decorated as Knights Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (KCMG) and Deputy Lieutenant (DL) of East Sussex. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng), Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS). He also holds various honorary degrees.