Barbara H. Wells

An obituary has been published for Dr. Wells, who died on February 16, 2022: CGIAR Mourns Barbara H. Wells, Leading Expert in Genetic Innovation, Agriculture, and Forestry Research.

Barbara H. Wells was Global Director of Genetic Innovation, CGIAR, and Director General of the International Potato Center (CIP). She was an accomplished senior executive with extensive scientific and business experience in research, management, strategic planning, regulatory processes, and the technical development and commercialization of products in agricultural and forestry markets throughout the world. Her experience in the agriculture and forestry research and innovation sectors spanned more than 30 years. Prior to joining CGIAR in 2014 as the Director General of CIP, she was Vice President of Global Strategy at Agrivida, Inc., a firm that develops enzyme solutions for animal nutrition and feed-stocks for the production of biofuels and bio-products. She also served as President and Chief Executive Officer of ArborGen, Inc., a global forestry tree seedling and tree breeding business, and Vice President responsible for growth initiatives and investments in Latin America at Emergent Genetics. She joined Monsanto early on in her career where she later served as Co-Managing Director of Brazilian operations and as a product development leader for major global crops, including cotton, corn, soybeans and trees. She grew up in Peru and Bolivia and spent much of her career based in Brazil. She received her PhD in agronomy from Oregon State University, her MSc in plant pathology and her BSc with honors in horticulture from the University of Arizona.