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Science 3 July 1998:
Vol. 281. no. 5373, p. 21
DOI: 10.1126/science.281.5373.21c
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ScienceScope

The folks at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Ba-os, the Philippines-one of the groups that helped launch the Green Revolution in the 1960s-are hoping that new chief Ronald Cantrell will lead them out of the financial desert they've been wandering in for the past 2 years. Cantrell, head of Iowa State University's Agronomy Department, spent 6 years in the 1980s as maize research director at a similar international institute, CIMMYT in Mexico. Appointed to the IRRI hot seat last week, Cantrell faces "enormous challenges" in shoring up the institute's finances, strengthening international links, and restoring good will with the staff, says IRRI board chair Roelof Rabbinge. Cantrell could not be reached for comment.

IRRI and other international agricultural institutes have fallen out of fashion with donor nations in recent years (Science, 2 January, p. 26). Last year, budget cuts forced the previous director, George Rothschild, to lay off half the staff; he later bailed out partway through his 5-year appointment.

Contributors: Eliot Marshall, Jeffrey Mervis, Dennis Normile, Constance Holden




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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)