Dr. Victor M. Villalobos
Director General, Inter-Ameriacn Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)
Víctor Villalobos, a Mexican specialist in agriculture, natural resources and genetics, has made major contributions to plant production, conservation of genetic and natural resources, and agro-biotechnology as tools for increasing agricultural production and food security.
He obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Agronomy at the National School of Agriculture in Chapingo, Mexico in 1976; his Master of Sciences in Plant Genetics at the Graduate College of Chapingo in 1979; and his Ph.D. at the University of Calgary in Canada in 1983.
He assumed office as the tenth Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) on January 15, 2010 in Costa Rica.
Prior to that, he had been appointed Natural Resources Undersecretary and Agriculture Undersecretary in the Mexican Government.
Dr. Villalobos is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry, and a member of the “Scoping Team” of CGIAR.
He received honorary doctorates from CATIE and the Universidad Nacional de Asuncion, Paraguay.