Borlaug is the granddaughter of American biologist, humanitarian and Nobel laureate Norman E. Borlaug. As the vice president of external relations for Inari Agriculture, she is continuing the Borlaug legacy and inspiring the next generation by advocating for innovation and technology to end hunger and poverty. Borlaug has developed agricultural partnerships between public, private and philanthropic groups to expand the mission to feed the world’s hungry. She previously served as director of strategic initiatives for Texas A&M Agrilife Research, associate director of external relations for the Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture, and director of development for the American Cancer Society.
This event was part of the UGA Signature Lecture Series.
The Award for Excellence in Teaching goes to Gregory Colson, an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, who has developed hands-on experiments and games for his classes to reinforce the material and give students a tangible experience to complement the theory lesson.
The Award for Excellence in Research goes to Esther van der Knaap, a professor in the Department of Horticulture and Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics, who has spent much of her career working to understand the genetic shifts that have occurred between ancestral, wild tomato varieties and modern, cultivated tomatoes.
The Award for Excellence in Extension goes to Tim Coolong, a professor in the Department of Horticulture, who primarily conducts vegetable field research but has worked on a broad variety of topics, from germplasm evaluation to food safety in vegetables to hemp production.
The Award for Excellence in Public Service Extension goes to Phillip Edwards, a UGA Cooperative Extension county coordinator and Agriculture and Natural Resources agent in Irwin County, who has conducted 139 applied research trials resulting in more than 50 state and/or national presentations and posters.
The Award for Excellence in Global Programs goes to Bob Kemerait, a professor in the Department of Plant Pathology, who has been a leader in USAID-funded projects to improve peanut production among small-scale farmers in Guyana, Haiti and the Philippines and recently received a Fulbright award to work with faculty and farmers in the northern Philippines.
