Stephen Kresovitch
Stephen Kresovich joined Clemson University in July 2013 as the Robert and Lois Coker Trustees Chair of Genetics in the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry and the School of Agriculture, Forestry, and Environmental Sciences. In this role, Dr. Kresovich serves as director of the Clemson Translational Genetics Network and the Advanced Plant Technology Program. Both groups are charged to integrate advances in genetic and genomics to solve problems in agriculture, the environment, and human health.
In 2010, Dr. Kresovich was appointed as a SmartState Endowed Chair of Genomics at the University of South Carolina and the Medical University of South Carolina. In this role, Dr. Kresovich focuses on characterizing and exploiting genetic diversity of unique and important organisms of South Carolina, including terrestrial, aquatic, and marine animals, microbes, and plants (including those used for agriculture, horticulture, forestry, and pharmaceutical/industrial applications). In addition, Dr. Kresovich applies tools of genomics and bioinformatics to solve applied problems in agriculture, conservation, and human health. From 2009-2011, Stephen Kresovich served as the Vice President for Research and Graduate Education (www.sc.edu/research) at the University of South Carolina. In this position, Dr. Kresovich was responsible for leading both the University of South Carolina’s system-wide research enterprise and graduate school efforts.
Prior to his arrival in Columbia, Dr. Kresovich was a Professor in the Departments of Plant Breeding and Genetics and Plant Biology at Cornell University. Upon arriving at Cornell in 1998, Dr. Kresovich served as the Director of the Institute for Genomic Diversity (www.igd.cornell.edu), the Director of the Institute for Biotechnology and Life Sciences Technologies (www.biotech.cornell.edu), and the Associate Vice Provost for Life Sciences (lifesciences.cornell.edu). In 2005, Dr. Kresovich became the Vice Provost for Life Sciences. In that position he was responsible for providing university-wide leadership for Cornell’s New Life Sciences Initiative (the institution’s largest academic undertaking in its history), including strategic planning, fundraising, hiring of faculty, planning for new buildings, developing shared core research facilities, and supporting educational and training activities based on Cornell’s comprehensive investments in the life sciences. In 2007, Dr. Kresovich served temporarily as the Interim Vice Provost for Research (www.cornell.edu/research/) with oversight and advocacy responsibilities for all of Cornell’s research efforts.
Dr. Kresovich received his A.B. in biology from Washington and Jefferson College, M.S. in agronomy at Texas A&M University, and Ph.D. in crop science (physiology and genetics) from The Ohio State University in 1982. Following graduation, he conducted research in crop breeding and biotechnology at Battelle Memorial Institute and Texas A&M University. Prior to joining the Cornell faculty, he served for eleven years as Laboratory Director at two U.S. National Genetic Resources Program genebanks in New York (1987-93) then in Georgia (1993-98). Dr. Kresovich’s internationally recognized research focuses on conservation genetics and improvement of crop plants including sorghum, maize, and sugar cane. Dr. Kresovich is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Crop Science Society of America.
At present, Dr. Kresovich stays active in international research and development efforts. He currently serves as an affiliated scientist with Biosciences for East and Central Africa (BecA) in Kenya and as an external advisor to the Tata-Cornell Agriculture-Nutrition initiative in India. From 1997-2007, he has served as the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Scientific Liaison Officer for Genetic Resources Conservation for the U.N.-supported International Agricultural Research Centers. Dr. Kresovich also is an advisory board member for the Baker Endowment at Iowa State University.
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