Montpellier, France
19 July 2023
Photo by Conor Ashleigh / ACIAR
The CGIAR System Board has agreed to appoint Professor Andrew Campbell, retiring CEO of the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), as CGIAR’s interim Executive Managing Director (EMD) as Dr. Claudia Sadoff, CGIAR’s inaugural EMD, prepares to retire from CGIAR.
Professor Campbell served as CEO of ACIAR from 2016 until this month and has held influential roles in sustainable agriculture and natural resource management in Australia for over 30 years. As ACIAR CEO, Professor Campbell represented Australia on CGIAR’s System Council and led Australia’s hosting of the Council’s 17th meetings in Brisbane last year.
“Professor Andrew Campbell has championed sustainable agriculture throughout his career at the interface between science and policy, and has brokered many collaborative applied research partnerships. He has been a staunch supporter of CGIAR while at ACIAR and through his role on the CGIAR System Council,” said Professor Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, Chair of the CGIAR System Board. “We are confident that, under Professor Campbell’s stewardship, CGIAR will be in good hands as we complete the search for CGIAR’s next EMD.
“We take this opportunity to thank Dr. Claudia Sadoff for her tremendous service as CGIAR’s first EMD,” Professor Sibanda said.
Professor Campbell said, “There has never been a more urgent need for the solutions CGIAR provides and the partnerships it convenes around food, land and water system transformation in a climate crisis. The CGIAR integration, led so well by Dr Claudia Sadoff, has positioned it strategically for more effective responses to the big, cross-cutting challenges including food and nutrition security, mitigating and adapting to climate change, improving gender equity, reducing poverty and conserving biodiversity.
“I am excited to have the opportunity to work with the executive and leadership teams and the CGIAR Board over the next few months to consolidate that progress,” Professor Campbell said.
Dr. Sadoff’s final day as CGIAR’s EMD will be 31 July. During the transition from Dr. Sadoff to Professor Campbell, who will assume his role on 24 August, the interim Executive Director of the System Organization, Dr. Khuloud Odeh, will serve as acting CGIAR EMD, working with the Executive Management Team and Senior Leadership Team to ensure business and management continuity.
The System Board appointed Claudia as CGIAR’s first Executive Managing Director for a period of one year, in order to provide continuity in this crucial phase of the One CGIAR integration while respecting Claudia’s decision at the time to retire after this period.
The CGIAR System Board launched the globally competitive search for CGIAR’s next EMD earlier this year. The search is being overseen by an ad-hoc search committee led by Patrick Caron and including members of the CGIAR System Board, the CGIAR System Council, and Center boards, as well as an independent member. Spencer Stuart, the global executive search firm, was selected to run the search process through a robust and competitive process.
Professor Andrew Campbell: a brief biography
- CEO, Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) 2016-2023
- Australian delegate, CGIAR System Council 2016-2023
- Chair, Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases 2020-2021
- Director, Research Institute for Environment & Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University 2011-2016
- Managing Director, Triple Helix Consulting 2007-2010
- Chief Executive, Land and Water Australia 1999-2006
- First National Landcare Facilitator 1989-1992
- Elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering
- Fellow, Australian Institute of Company Directors
- Honorary Professorial Fellow, Australian National University
- Honorary Principal Fellow, University of Melbourne
- Author, >100 publications on sustainable agriculture, landcare and research management
- Master of Science (Management of Agricultural Knowledge Systems) from Wageningen University, Bachelor of Forest Science (Hons) from the University of Melbourne, Diploma of Forestry from Creswick.
- Professor Campbell remains involved in his farm in south-eastern Australia, where his family has been farming since the 1860s.
Topics
Species
