Susan Henry launches Asia tour by making connections in Dharwad

By Linda McCandless

Susan A. Henry, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) at Cornell, launched a monthlong trip in Asia by signing a memorandum of understanding with Dr. S.A. Patil, vice chancellor of the University of Agricultural Sciences in Dharwad, India, Jan. 11. It is the third such agreement that CALS has established with universities in southern and western India.

Susan A. Henry, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell, signs a memorandum of understanding with Dr. S.A. Patil, vice chancellor of the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, in Bangalore, India, on Jan. 11. Bhaktha & Sons

"India is a great crucible of change in the modern world," said Henry. "The agreement we are signing will facilitate the exchange of students, faculty and technology, and the joint development of new answers to serious challenges in the realms of food security, nutrition and environmental protection."

During her trip, Henry will travel to India, Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong and the Philippines. She will explore future collaborations and partnerships with universities throughout Asia, talk with alumni as well as current and prospective students, and celebrate the college's 80 years of accomplishment in the region with former and current partners in Asia with whom the college has had longstanding relationships. She will further communicate Cornell President Jeffrey Lehman's vision of Cornell as a "transnational" university. Lehman visited Asia last July and again in November.

"Scientists from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences have taken a leading role in making Cornell a global land-grant university for over 80 years," said Henry. "Working with scientists from around the world, and using both traditional plant breeding techniques and cutting-edge genomics, we have improved nearly all of the world's important food crops, particularly rice. We have improved yields, boosted nutritional content, improved environmental tolerances and increased resistance to diseases and pests."

In Asia, she will visit coffee and dairy operations and meet with leading rice breeders, scientists and industry spokespeople. "Asia is both an emerging market and an emerging producer. In both dimensions, we need to better understand how we can work together to impact food and agricultural production around the world," said Henry.

Henry is not visiting any of the tsunami-stricken areas. On Jan. 13, she joined Cornell faculty and staff of the International Agriculture Class 602 in Coorg, India. From Jan. 15 to 21, she is attending a meeting of the USAID's National Research Council, a federal research council on which she serves, which was the initial impetus for the trip. At universities throughout the region, including the Indian Institute of Science, Peking University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the University of the Philippines, she will give talks on Cornell's initiative in the new life sciences and her research in molecular genetics. She will hold meetings with vice chancellors of leading institutions throughout Asia and sign a second memorandum of understanding, this one with the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, on Feb. 1.

Ronnie Coffman, the director of international programs at CALS and chairman of the plant breeding department, will join Henry on portions of the trip. In Hong Kong and the Philippines, she will be accompanied by Catheryn Obern, director of international affairs for Cornell's Division of Alumni Affairs and Development.