Dr. Segenet Kelemu, an Ethiopian scientist, has been appointed the new Director General of icipe,
taking over from Prof. Christian Borgemeister, who has been at the helm
of the Centre for the past eight years. Dr. Kelemu becomes the fourth
chief executive officer, and the first woman to head icipe.
Founded in 1970 by renowned Kenyan scientist, Prof. Thomas Risley Odhiambo, icipe
conducts research and assists resource-limited rural and urban
communities in Africa to implement strategies that are environmentally
safe, affordable and accessible, for the control of crop pests and
disease vectors, and the exploitation of useful insects.
Announcing Dr. Kelemu’s appointment, icipe
Governing Council Chairman, Prof. John Pickett, said: “We are extremely
confident that Dr. Kelemu will ably advance the Centre’s overall
mission of improving food security and the health of people in Africa.
She has immense experience in agricultural research, in capacity
building and in managing research for development. Indeed, over the past
two decades, her own research and that of teams under her leadership
has contributed to addressing a variety of key agricultural constraints
in Africa, Asia, Latin America and North America.”
Prior to her appointment, Dr. Kelemu was the Vice President for Programmes at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). She joined AGRA from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), where she served as Director of the Biosciences eastern and central Africa
(BecA). Previously, Dr. Kelemu was a Senior Scientist, and later the
Leader of Crop and Agroecosystem Health Management, at the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Cali, Colombia. She has also worked as a researcher at Cornell University, and at Montana and Kansas State Universities, in the USA.
Dr. Kelemu has received many international accolades, including CIAT's Outstanding Senior Scientist Award, for her numerous contributions to the Centre and its mission, and the prestigious Friendship Award
granted by the People's Republic of China, for outstanding
contributions to China's economic and social development. In 2011, Dr.
Kelemu, jointly with icipe scientist Prof. Zeyaur Khan, was awarded the TWAS Prize for Agricultural Sciences, by TWAS, The World Academy of Sciences.
She is actively engaged within the
global scientific community, having published widely in refereed
publications and throughout her professional services, as an editor of
peer reviewed journals and a member of a variety of international
committees focusing on research for development.
http://www.icipe.org
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