Board of trustees

Neal Gutterson’s life’s work is to create value for farmers. He does this through a combination of scientific and technological expertise, broad-based management and board experience and the ability to convert innovative ideas and thinking into results.

Neal joined DuPont Pioneer in 2014. After DuPont merged with Dow, he was named Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of the combined entity’s agriculture division, which was subsequently spun off and renamed Corteva Agriscience. There, he led the integration of three research and development organizations into one, developed the new company’s first integrated R&D strategy and oversaw the growth and expansion of its award-winning pipeline. While at Corteva, he championed and brought strategic clarity to the company’s efforts to use its expertise, intellectual property and technologies to address challenges facing small holder farmers globally.

Prior to joining Corteva, he held a number of senior roles with Mendel Biotechnology, rising from Vice President, R&D, to President, Chief Executive Officer and Board member. Earlier, he held a number of research roles with DNA Plant Technology Corporation. Throughout his career, he has used his knowledge of organizational design principles to forge collaborations with organizations of all sizes and stages of maturity. He also spent six years on the Board of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), along with a number of other associations. He holds a PhD in Biochemistry.

Mouwafak Jbour  joined the ICARDA board in the spring of 2018. He has served as deputy director general of the General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research within the Syrian Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform since 2015.

Between 2006 and 2012, he led the Syrian government’s institutional development of organic agriculture. He has published widely on topics of organic agriculture systems, emerging farming systems, and potato physiology and varieties. He serves as a member of the board of directors of the Higher Commission for Scientific Research in Syria.

He received his Ph.D. in agronomy in Warsaw, Poland.

Aly Abousabaa became ICARDA’s director general in October 2016. He brings 33 years of strategic leadership in sustainable development, operational and policy-based lending, and project management, spanning 35 countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

As vice president of the African Development Bank, Abousabaa led the preparation and execution of the Bank’s key strategies. He was also in charge of resource mobilization and management of a US$ 11 billion portfolio in the areas of agriculture, water, natural resources management, climate change, infrastructure, women and youth, and governance, making transformational impact on the lives of millions of people in Africa.

He has an established global network of international partners on development, including the World Bank, the United Nations, European Union, African Union, bilateral agencies, such as GIZ, DFID, and NORAD, and non-governmental organizations.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Alexandria University, Egypt, and a master’s in civil engineering from Montana State University in the United States. 

Charles Spillane is an Established Professor (Chair) of Plant Science, and Lead of the Agriculture, Food Systems and Bioeconomy Research Centre at the University of Galway, Ireland. His interdisciplinary research and academic career has consistently focused on agricultural research for sustainable development and poverty reduction. Prof. Spillane has high-level experience of working in both technical and policy spheres, working closely with the CGIAR, FAO (& other UN agencies) and leading research institutions worldwide. During the 1990s, he worked with FAO and CGIAR centres on the negotiations of the 2001 International Treaty on Genetic Resources for Food & Agriculture, and the State of the World's Plant Genetic Resources for Food & Agriculture. In addition to international development organisations, he has also worked in leading advanced research centres worldwide (e.g. John Innes Centre, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, etc.). With over 230 peer-reviewed publications, he is a highly motivated scientist and research leader with a broad knowledge of multiple domains. He works across disciplinary boundaries to conduct and enable agri-research focused on poverty reduction and sustainable development.

Prof. Spillane has significant leadership and management experience across multiple international development and research for development spheres, spanning various levels and scales (e.g. research group, university department, Research Institute, etc). Between 2016-2024, he was the Director of the interdisciplinary Ryan Institute for Sustainability at the University of Galway, where he led its growth to become the university's most prominent research institute with over 100 research groups across 12 research centres (over 500 full-time researchers, circa €12 million p.a. in competitive research funding - generating 20% of the university's research outputs). He is the founder and Director of the award-winning master's degree in Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (MScCCAFS), which now has alumni of over 200 graduates playing increasingly essential roles globally in the climate and food security crises. He is also the co-founder and Chair of the Irish Forum for International Agricultural Development (IFIAD, www.ifiad.ie). He has extensive knowledge of international development processes (from national to global levels), including partnership-building and stakeholder engagement processes. Prof. Spillane is highly committed to the CGIAR's poverty reduction and sustainable development mission of the CGIAR. He considers that interdisciplinary agricultural research for development is critical to developing and scaling innovations to address multiple interlinked sustainable development goals and targets.

Emmanuel Sackey holds a Master of Philosophy degree (M.Phil) in Food Science and Technology with specialization in Product Development and Food Biotechnology, a B.Sc. (Hons) degree in Chemistry, a Diploma in Education (Dip Ed), a Diploma in French Studies (DELF) and several certificates in Project Management, Leadership and Feasibility Studies. He obtained the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Fellowship to undertake Six-month post-graduate studies in biotechnology and intellectual property at the Swedish Patent and Registration Office, Stockholm, Sweden, in the year 2000.  

He played a significant role in the World Bank, facilitated Ghana's National Agricultural Research Programme in Ghana, and conducted extensive research in Post-harvest Agro-Processing and Integrated Technologies. He also has proven performance and skills in IP knowledge transfer and capacity building, policy and legal developments, including facilitating the establishment of two ARIPO Protocols, namely the Swakopmund Protocol on the Protection of Traditional Knowledge and Expressions of Folklore and Arusha Protocol on the Protection of New Varieties of Plants as well as the implementation of ARIPO's mandate on copyright and related rights. Between 2009 and 2014, he served as an African Facilitator and Negotiator at the WIPO Inter-Governmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Protection of Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore. He has travelled across the world (over 80 Countries) and made presentations on IP policy developments and the promotion of innovation and creativity for economic development and growth. He has published several articles on IP and Technology (over 48) and contributed to the publication of 4 books including "informal economy-hidden engine of innovation in developing countries" which was published by the Cambridge University Press in September, 2016 and "Intellectual Property Law, Practice and Management" published in 2018. He lectures at 3 Universities in Africa, including KNUST, and has since 2022 been appointed a Board Member of AfricaRice Centre, one of the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centres. He is also the Chairman of Intellectual Property Network Ghana and a World Bank Consultant. 
 

Faouzi Bekkaoui is the Director of INRA Morocco. He was previously the Director of the Agriculture School and the coordinator of the AgroBioSciences Research program at the University Mohammed 6 Polytechnic (UM6P) Benguerir. Bekkaoui has also worked in the Wheat Improvement Flagship Program at NRC Canada 2012-2017, the NRC Plant Biotechnology Institute (PBI), ID Biomedical in the area DNA diagnostics, and Genome Prairie.  During his career, Faouzi has co-authored 38 peer-reviewed publications in the areas of DNA diagnostics, molecular biology, genomics, and plant physiology. He holds three U.S. patents involving DNA diagnostics.

Bekkaoui holds a Bachelor in Physiology from the University of Tours and a Ph.D. in Plant Physiology from the University of Sorbonne (ex-Paris 6). 

Michel Afram is the Director General and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute (LARI). An agronomist by training, he is a specialist in agricultural education and policy and, amongst others, holds the positions of Deputy Director of the Global Association of Francophone Agricultural and Food Processing Universities, and Vice President of Confremo (conference of Francophone Universities and Institutions in the MENA region). Dr. Afram is also a member of the Lebanese Higher Agricultural Council, Professor at the School of Agriculture at Saint Joseph’s University, and a member of several Lebanese national committees pursuing improved agriculture and food production.

Dr. Afram is a recipient of the French Order of Academic Palms (Ordre des Palmes Academiques, 2016) for his work in teaching, scholarship and research. Dr Afram has received multiple other awards, including the Golden Award for Best Research and Practice from the European Society for Quality Research and the London-Oxford-Award for his research activities. Since 2018, Dr Afram has received various Bizz business excellence awards, including the Pinnacle of Success prize in 2021.

Dr. Tareq Alzabet brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to ICARDA with his Ph.D. in Water Resources Management from Germany and over 30 years of international experience. His distinguished career includes leadership roles as Deputy Minister and Assistant Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Environment in Canada. In these roles, Dr Alzabet was instrumental in shaping environmental policies and strategies, overseeing and driving significant advancements in environmental research, climate change adaptation, and sustainable development.

Dr. Alzabet's extensive international experience spans countries such as Jordan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Kuwait, and Qatar. He has collaborated with numerous international development agencies, including UNDP, UNEP, USAID, CIDA, UNESCO, the European Commission, IDRC, and GIZ. His expertise in board governance is further evidenced by his roles on multiple boards, chairing and member of the enterprise risk management (ERM), finance, environmental and social governance (ESG), human resources, and environmental stewardship, combined with his commitment to impartiality, integrity, and sustainability,