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Ronald L. Phillips, Regents Professor and McKnight Presidential Chair in Genomics, University of Minnesota
 "I have been a member of AAAS since 1978. I believe that AAAS meetings are unique in that they combine a wealth of topics of general interest to scientists everywhere.
The speakers are the best in their fields, and they usually place their topics in broader contexts than occur in other venues. The program attracts scientists, policy makers, journalists and the public – a mix of great benefit in the ultimate formulation of policies that are important to science and its applications.
The many articles reporting on information presented at the annual meeting serve to enhance public understanding of science. Science literacy is an issue worldwide, and the AAAS ranks high in its efforts to inform the public. As the applications of science continue to advance our society, the underlying body of knowledge will not become any simpler.
How wonderful if only we could appreciate the full implications of today’s science, much less the knowledge to be generated tomorrow! Full participation in AAAS helps to improve our chances to achieve such a goal."
Dr. Phillips is Regents Professor and McKnight Presidential Chair in Genomics at the University of Minnesota. He is currently Chair of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents. He earned both B.S. and M.S. degrees from Purdue University, a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and conducted his postdoctoral training at Cornell University. He served as Chief Scientist of the USDA (1996-1998) in charge of the National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program.
His awards include an honorary doctorate from Purdue University, Fellow of AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science), ASA (American Society of Agronomy), and CSSA (Crop Science Society of America), the Purdue University Agriculture Distinguished Alumni Award, the Dekalb Genetics Crop Science Distinguished Career Award, and the Crop Science Society of America Research Award.
Dr. Phillips served as President of the Crop Science Society of America. He has been a speaker at the AAAS meetings, served as Chair of AAAS Section O (Agriculture, Food and Renewable Resources), and was a member of the AAAS Program Committee from 2003-2006. In 1991, he was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences and is former Chair of the Section on Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences.
He currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, the Board of Trustees of the premier International Rice Research Institute of the Philippines, and is a Non-Resident Fellow of the Noble Foundation. He is a founding member and former Director of both the Plant Molecular Genetics Institute and the Microbial and Plant Genomics Institute of the University of Minnesota.
He has served on numerous editorial boards, edited six books, and published over 70 book chapters, 130 refereed journal articles, and 300 abstracts. As Regents Professor and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, he participates in addressing University-wide, national, and international issues.
Throughout his career, Dr. Phillips has coupled the techniques of plant genetics and molecular biology to enhance understanding of the basic biology of cereal crops and to improve these species by innovative methods. He teaches a renowned course in plant cytogenetics and is invited to teach it, or present the results of his research at numerous university, governmental, and industrial institutions in the U.S. and abroad.
His research at the University of Minnesota was one of the early programs in modern plant biotechnology related to agriculture. In both teaching and research, he attempts to bridge the basic and applied aspects of plant genetics. His research objectives have been to develop and apply molecular genetic information to the improvement of important traits, to evaluate somatic cell genetic systems for manipulating crop species, to develop and use genetic and molecular biological selection procedures, and to develop high-throughput genomic mapping procedures.
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