The Glenn Anderson Lecture
A distinguished lecture honouring the legacy of Canadian agricultural scientist Robert Glenn Anderson and exploring the future security of the world’s food supply.
The lecture connects scientific leadership with practical solutions, carrying forward Glenn Anderson’s belief that agricultural research should create meaningful change for farmers and communities.
Dr Bram Govaerts
Director General, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)
Dr Bram Govaerts delivered the Glenn Anderson Lecture during the ICPP 2023 keynote session on food security. His work brings together multidisciplinary science and development teams to create sustainable strategies for innovation and transformation in agri-food systems.
Presentation titleAgrifood System for a Food and Nutrition Secure World: From Efficiency to Resilience
Ideas that move beyond the lecture hall
Highlighting research and leadership that expand agricultural knowledge.
Exploring solutions for productive, secure and resilient agriculture.
Connecting innovation with the people and communities it can serve.
Robert Glenn Anderson
1924–1981
Glenn Anderson was a Canadian agricultural scientist whose career centred on wheat breeding, genetics and rust resistance. In 1964, Norman Borlaug recruited Anderson and his wife Roberta to help lead an accelerated wheat improvement program in India.
Working alongside Indian wheat scientists under Dr M.S. Swaminathan, Anderson helped lead research and production efforts that substantially increased wheat production during a period of severe national food deficit. This work became part of the agricultural transformation widely known as the Green Revolution.
Anderson later joined the CIMMYT Wheat Program in Mexico, becoming Deputy Director in 1971 and Director in 1979. He remained committed to applying scientific research to food security until his death in 1981 at the age of 57.
Began his scientific career
Joined the accelerated wheat improvement program in India
Appointed Deputy Director of the CIMMYT Wheat Program
Became Director of the CIMMYT Wheat Program
Norman Borlaug, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and leading figure of the Green Revolution, delivered the inaugural lecture after the series was established in 1986.
Lecture history and biographical information sourced from the International Society for Plant Pathology.