Gordon R. Conway

Sir Gordon Richard Conway

"Gordon Conway trained in agricultural ecology, attending the Universities of Bangor, Cambridge, West Indies (Trinidad) and California (Davis). In the 1960's he was a pioneer of sustainable agriculture developing integrated pest management programs for the State of Sabah in Malaysia. He joined Imperial College in 1970 setting up the Centre for Environmental Technology in 1976.

"In the 1970s and 1980s he lived and worked extensively in Asia and the Middle East, for the Ford Foundation, World Bank and USAID. He directed the Sustainable Agriculture Programme at IIED [International Institute for Environment and Development] and then became representative of the Ford Foundation in New Delhi. Subsequently he became Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex and Chair of IDS [Institute for Development Studies].

"From 1998-2004 he was President of the Rockefeller Foundation and from 2004-2008 Chief Scientific Adviser to DFID [Department for International Development] and President of the Royal Geographical Society. He is a KCMG, Deputy Lieutenant of East Sussex, Hon Fell RAEng and FRS. He holds five honorary degrees and fellowships.

"He is the author of The Doubly Green Revolution: Food for all in the 21st Century Penguin and Cornell."

Biography

• 1970-1986: Professor of Environmental Technology at Imperial College, London. Set up Centre for Environmental Technology there in 1976.
• 1988-1992: Representative of the Ford Foundation in New Delhi
• 1992-1998: Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex and Chair of the Institute for Development Studies
• 1998-2004: President of The Rockefeller Foundation
• 2004-2008: Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department for International Development
• 2006-2009: President of the Royal Geographical Society

Memberships and Titles

• President , Royal Geographical Society, 2006-2009
• Advisory Council, World Food Prize
• Advisory Board, Renaissance Weekend
• Member, China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development
• International Advisory Council, Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice

Publications

• Ecology and resource development in Southeast Asia, 1973.
• Pesticide Resistance and World Food Production, editor, 1983.
• Fertilizer Risks in the Developing Countries: A Review, 1988, written with Jules N. Pretty
• Unwelcome Harvest: Agriculture and pollution, 1991, written with Jules N. Pretty
• The Doubly Green Revolution: Food for all in the 21st Century, 1999.
• Introduction to Can We Feed Ourselves?: A Focus on Asia by Lester R. Brown, 2000.
• After the Green Revolution: Sustainable Agriculture for Development, 2009, written with Edward B. Barbier.
• Science and Innovation for Development, 2010, written with Jeff Waage, foreword by Calestous Juma

Contact Information

• Professor Sir Gordon Conway
• Chair in International Development
• Ph: +44 (0)20 7594 1987
• Email: g.conway@imperial.ac.uk

Resources and articles

Related Sourcewatch articles

• The Doubly Green Revolution
• Green Revolution
• Rockefeller Foundation
• International Institute for Environment and Development
• World Bank
• Ford Foundation
• USAID
• Integrated Pest Management
• Second Green Revolution
• June 12, 2003 House Hearing on Plant Biotechnology Research in Africa

External References

• Professor Sir Gordon Conway, Imperial College London
• Gordon Conway, "The Rockefeller Foundation and Plant Biotechnology," Speech given June 24, 1999.
• Sir Gordon Conway, World Food Prize.
• Gordon Conway and Jeff Waage with Sara Delaney, Scence and Innovation for Development, 2010.
• Gordon Conway's speech, Launch of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) in 2004.

External Articles

• "The ideas interview: Gordon Conway," The Guardian, October 23, 2005.