Robert Fraley, executive vice president and chief technology officer of Monsanto Co., presented “Agbiotech, Developments, Future and Wheat Opportunities,” to more than 100 NDSU students, faculty and staff on Nov. 1 in the Memorial Union.
The North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station invited Fraley to present, in part, to recognize the newly formed partnership between Monsanto and NDSU on wheat technology. The collaboration strives to bring more tools to growers, which will lead to better solutions.
Monsanto senior managers and technology experts also visited campus and met with researchers and administrators. President Dean L. Besciani hosted a reception following Fraley’s presentation.
During his presentation, Fraley highlighted Monsanto products and innovation; conservation efforts; the increasing global demand for corn, wheat, soybeans, cotton and rice; breeding tools and biotechnology; integrated farming systems and the importance of partnerships.
Fraley oversees Monsanto’s integrated crop and seed agribusiness technology and research with facilities in most areas of the world. He has been involved in agricultural biotechnology since the early 80s and has been with Monsanto for more than 30 years. He was one of the lead scientists who demonstrated genes can be transferred from another species into plants. For this significant research accomplishment, Fraley is sometimes referred to as the father of agricultural biotechnology.
Fraley has contributed to agricultural development through a number of significant activities, including writing more than 100 publications and patent applications relating to technical advances in agricultural biotechnology.
He has received numerous awards, including the National Medal of Technology from President Clinton in 1999, and the 2008 National Academy of Sciences Award for the Industrial Application of Science for his work on the improvement of crops through biotechnology.
Most notably, Fraley has been recognized as an innovative leader for the discovery, development and successful commercialization of Roundup Ready and other genetically modified organism crops.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.