Four new members joined the Board in 2002: Dr Michel Antoine Afram, Dr Guido Gryseels, Dr Shinobu Inanaga, and Dr Mohamed S. Zehni. Prof. Iwao Kobori, Vice-Chair of ICARDA Board, completed his second 3-year term of office as a member. In bidding farewell to him, the Board paid tribute to his outstanding contributions to the growth and development of ICARDA.

A specialist in agricultural education and policy, Dr Michel Antoine Afram is President of the Board of Directors and Director General of the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute. He holds many other positions, including Deputy Director of the Global Association of Francophonie Agricultural and Food Processing Universities. He is a member of the Lebanese Higher Agricultural Council, Professor at the School of Agriculture, Saint Joseph University, and is a member of several Lebanese national committees pursuing improved agriculture and food production. From 1993 to 2002, he was Dean of the School of Agriculture, Saint Joseph University, Lebanon.

An economist, Dr Guido Gryseels is presently Director of the Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium, and Principal Agricultural Research Officer, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. He also holds important positions in the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), including Deputy Executive Secretary, Interim Science Council (formerly the Technical Advisory Committee), with responsibility for committees looking into priorities and strategies and impact assessment. He is immediate past Executive Secretary of the CGIAR’s Impact Assessment and Evaluation Group. From 1987 to 1993 he held various senior positions with the International Livestock Center for Africa.

Dr Shinobu Inanaga is Professor of Crop Ecology and Physiology and Director of the Arid Land Research Center, Tottori University, Japan. From 1996 to 1997, he was a Professor in the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tokyo. He has worked on dryland agriculture in many countries in West Asia and North Africa, and his various professional activities include membership on the Japan International Cooperation Agency Advisory Committee for the Middle East, the Board of the Japanese Association for Arid Land Studies, and several other bodies related to agriculture and combating desertification.

A plant physiologist from Libya, Dr Mohamed S. Zehni is an independent consultant. Presently he is Advisor for International Agriculture Studies, Institute of Agriculture, University of Malta. He is former Director, Plant Production and Protection Division, and Director, Research and Technology Development Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. From 1978 to 1984 he was Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Libya to the United Nations Organizations (FAO, IFAD, World Food Council) in Rome. He is also past Chairman and Director General of Libya’s Agricultural Research Center, and past Director General, Plant Production Department. His association with the CGIAR dates back to 1980, and he has served as a member of the Review Panel of IPGRI, member of the 2nd Review of the CGIAR and of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC).