DR. WILLIAM DAR, director general of the India-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat), was awarded the 2009 Outstanding Alumnus award by the University of the Philippines Los Baños Alumni Association (UPLBAA) on October 9 at UPLB’s Baker Hall.

Dar, a former secretary of the Philippines’ agriculture department, has been head of the “floundering” Icrisat since 2000. He was able to transform the institute into a high-performing global organization through proactive planning and a clear mission and vision, guided with the mantra of doing “science with a human face.”

“The complete transformation of the institute is not reflected only on its quality science but also in its institutional health,” Dar said in his acceptance speech.

Icrisat’s budget tripled under his watch. The institute was also ranked “outstanding” by the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (Cgiar) in 2006 and 2007, and has been the recipient of the most prestigious Cgiar King Baudouin award five times.

“We are in the forefront in generating knowledge and technologies, and are constantly reinventing ourselves to tackle serious challenges like climate change and desertification that are plaguing agriculture,” he said.

Given a mandate of another five-year term, Dar said, “I pledge to remain the servant-leader of the poor of the semi-arid tropics. As Greek politician Pericles once said, ‘What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.’”

Dar urged the UPLB “to revitalize itself and focus its efforts in dealing with the global challenges that our country is facing as well.”

He added: “This is an age of renaissance where UPLB can emerge as a driving force in creating opportunities not only for our scientists and students but more so for our people.”