Stephen Kresovich is an internationally recognized researcher and administrative leader with a focus on using genomics and plant genetics to solve problems in agriculture, the environment and human health. Along with serving as program director for the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Crop Improvement, he is a professor in Cornell University’s School of Integrative Plant Science and is the Robert and Lois Coker Trustees Chair of Genetics in the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences at Clemson University. In addition, Kresovich serves as director of Clemson’s Advanced Plant Technology Program.
Over his 40-year career, Kresovich has demonstrated significant leadership in academic and governmental research sectors. He has served as the Vice President for Research and Graduate Education at the University of South Carolina. Additionally, while at Cornell he served as the Vice Provost for Life Sciences, Director of the Institute for Genomic Diversity and the Director of the Institute for Biotechnology. Prior to joining the Cornell faculty, he was Laboratory Director at two U.S. National Genetic Resources Program genebanks at Geneva, New York and Griffin, Georgia.
Kresovich’s internationally recognized research focuses on conservation genetics and improvement of crop plants including sorghum, maize and sugar cane. Besides research collaborations in South America (with EMBRAPA in Brazil), Africa (with IER in Mali, INRAN in Niger, and BECA in Kenya) and Asia (ICRISAT in India), Kresovich has extensive experience in leadership roles in international research and development as an advisor to the Tata-Cornell Agriculture-Nutrition initiative in India and as a representative for the U.S. Agency for International Development as Scientific Liaison Officer for the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (now Bioversity) and for system-wide Genetic Resources Conservation for the International Agricultural Research Centers (CGIAR).
Kresovich received his A.B. in biology from Washington and Jefferson College, M.S. in agronomy at Texas A&M University and Ph.D. in crop science (physiology and genetics) from The Ohio State University.
