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K-State Today Student Edition

January 22, 2015

2013 World Food Prize winner to kick off K-State's Global Food Systems Lecture Series

Submitted by Paige Druffel

Robert Fraley, the executive vice president and chief technology officer for Monsanto

It is not news that by 2050 the world population with grow to more than 9.6 billion people. Our generation is faced with the challenge of preparing for and sustaining those 2 billion extra people.

Join us for the first speaker of the new Henry C. Gardiner Global Food Systems Lecture series. Robert Fraley, the executive vice president and chief technology officer for Monsanto, will speak at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 26, in McCain Auditorium. Fraley's talk is "2050: Agriculture's Role in Mitigating Global Challenges."

The challenge will take all of us. Last year, President Schulz introduced the Global Food Systems initiative to fortify the university's position as a leader in the global food network. It touches many aspects of food — including how it is grown, transported, stored, consumed and protected — as well as such related areas as family issues, nutrition, health, business, biology, the environment and more.

Fraley, along with his two fellow laureates, received the prestigious World Food Prize in 2013 for their achievements in founding, developing and applying modern agricultural biotechnology.

How does this relate to you? We all play a part in our global food systems. We will need engineers to design and build systems; scientists to discover new technologies; biologists to manage and maintain resources; doctors, nurses, nutritionists, counselors to improve our lives; agriculturists to grow our food; communicators, marketers, financial advisors to communicate between our complex chains; and so many more.

We challenge you to spend an hour learning from one of the most prominent scientists of our time and consider how you can play an important role in our global food systems.