Simon Heck

Director General, International Potato Institute (CIP)

Simon Heck is Director General of the International Potato Center (CIP), a research center of the CGIAR Integrated Partnership. He is a member of the CGIAR Global Leadership Team.

Headquartered in Lima, Peru, CIP delivers science and innovation on Root and Tuber Crops through a global network of public and private sector partners in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Simon has extensive research experience in agri-food systems and environmental management. An anthropologist by training, he has held senior science and policy positions with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), and the WorldFish Center.  He has contributed to agricultural and environmental policy and strategy development in several regional and national institutions in Africa and Asia.