Message from the next Director General

In April 2011, the Board of Trustees of the World Agroforestry Centre appointed Dr Tony Simons as its new Director General. Dr Simons will assume leadership of the Centre upon the retirement of Dr Dennis Garrity on 1 October 2011. Dr Garrity had served two 5-year terms as the Centre's CEO.

The announcement was made by the Board Chair Professor Eric Tollens on Friday 8 April 2011 to a gathering of staff, management and Board members at the close of the 53rd Meeting of the Centre's Board.

An intensive search process involving more than 300 applicants culminated in a week of interviews by the final shortlisted individuals during the Board Meeting. Three candidates made presentations to all staff, which were broadcast to all of the Centre's regional offices. In addition, each candidate interacted with five staff focus groups, as well as the Board. In his announcement, Professor Tollens said, "We are facing great challenges to evolve a greener, more food secure world. Tony has the vision and skills to take the Centre to even greater heights of success in achieving our mission.

"Thank you for the trust you have shown in me," Dr Simons told the staff and Board. "I am humbled, energized and motivated by this faith. With your help and support we can do wonderful things together in these exciting times of CGIAR reform."

Raised in New Zealand, Dr Simons has had a long and distinguished career. He has been Deputy Director General of the Centre since 2008, and prior to that led the Centre's Trees and Markets research programme. He was appointed Honorary Professor in Tropical Forestry at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark in 2009.

Dr Simons is a graduate of the University of Cambridge, UK where he earned a PhD in Botany, focusing on tree improvement in the timber species Pinus caribaea. Later he worked on intraspecific variation in Gliricidia spp. and the reproductive ecology of Amazonian trees. He is a board member of the Danone Livelihood Fund, Plant Resources of Tropical Africa and the African Centre for Technology Studies.

Dr Simons has played a major role in implementing the strategy of the Centre, and positioning it effectively during the reorganization of the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research. He will be steering the Centre through this transition period, and will play a vital role in setting the agenda for how agroforestry research in the developing world generates more impact in the coming decades.

The outgoing Director General, Dr Dennis Garrity, commented, "I am delighted. Tony is superbly qualified for the position. We have full confidence in his abilities to lead the Centre forward with great creative energy."