In 2008, the Charles Valentine Riley Memorial Foundation (RMF) endowed the Charles Valentine Riley Memorial Lecture at AAAS in honor of Professor Riley’s legacy as a “whole picture” person with a vision for enhancing agriculture through scientific knowledge.
The Charles Valentine Riley Memorial Lecture is a collaboration between AAAS, RMF, and the World Food Prize Foundation (WFPF), an organization whose fundamental goal is to support efforts toward an adequate supply and availability of nutritious food for the burgeoning world population in the 21st century. The annual lecture welcomes distinguished speakers to explore the environmental and societal challenges facing our planet through the lens of agricultural innovation and its applications in a global context. Past lecturers include:
- Dr. Evan H. DeLucia, G. William Arends Professor of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Dr. Robert S. Ziegler, Director General Emeritus, International Rice Research Institute, Philippines
- Dr. Alison Van Eenennaam, Cooperative Extension Specialist, University of California, Davis
- Dr. Robert Fraley, then Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Monsanto
- Dr. Randy Woodson, Chancellor, North Carolina State University
- Dr. Steven Leath, then President, Iowa State University
- The Honorable Daniel Glickman, former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
- Dr. Stephen P. Long, Gutgesell Endowed University Professor of Plant Biology and Crop Sciences, University of Illinois
- Dr. Robert Horsch, Deputy Director for Research & Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- Dr. Pamela C. Ronald, Professor of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis
- Dr. Roger Beachy, then Director, National Institute of Food and Agriculture
To learn more about Charles Riley, visit the Charles Valentine Riley Memorial Foundation or the Charles Valentine Riley Collection in the USDA National Agricultural Library.
NOMINATION PROCESS
Each year, we seek nominations for speakers to discuss a timely topic related to food security, agricultural enhancements, research contributions to agriculture, animal genomics and biotechnology, and achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions through global food system transformation.
Nominees should be well-respected scientists working at the forefront of pressing issues at the nexus of agriculture and society.
