The FAO Constitution (Article VII) provides that “There shall be a Director-General of the Organization who shall be appointed by the Conference…” and further that “Subject to the general supervision of the Conference and the Council, the Director-General shall have full power and authority to direct the work of the Organization.” At the outset, the Constitution contained no provision regarding the Director-General's term of office. Over the years, such provisions were inserted and amended; the present position is that he is appointed for a term of six years and is eligible for reappointment.
The General Rules (Rule XXXIX. 1) provide that “Appointment to the post of Deputy Director-General shall be made by the Director-General, subject to confirmation by the Council” and (Rule XXXVI.2) that “The Deputy Director-General shall act as Director-General in any case where the Director-General is unable to act or in case of a vacancy in the office of the Director-General.”
This post has been occupied in turn by Sir John Boyd Orr (1945–1948), Norris E. Dodd (1948–1953), Philip V. Cardon (1954–1956), B. R. Sen (1956–1967), A.H. Boerma (1968–1975), and the present Director-General, Edouard Saouma, who was elected in 1975 for the period 1976–1981. The respective backgrounds against which these men undertook this important assignment are indicated in the series of biographical sketches below.
Sir John Boyd Orr was elected the first Director-General of FAO by the First Session of the FAO Conference, in Quebec, late in 1945. He was born at Kilmaurs, Ayrshire, Scotland, on 23 September 1880. He married Elizabeth Pearson Callum and they had one son (who was killed in action in World War II) and two daughters.
He was educated at the University of Glasgow, where he obtained an M.A. degree in 1903, a B.Sc. in 1910, an M.B. in 1912, an M.D. in 1914, and a D.Sc.in 1920. He was knighted in 1935 for his service to agriculture and was awarded honorary degrees by at least a dozen universities in many countries. Among many other honours, he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1949. He authored about 150 scientific articles and a number of books.
John Boyd Orr taught at Kyleshill School from 1902 to 1907. Although his initial intent was to train for the Ministry in the Free Church of Scotland, he became interested in nutrition very early in his career, and after he obtained his M.D. degree he was selected to be Director of a new institute of research in animal nutrition (later to be called the Rowett Research Institute). This project was however interrupted by World War I, during which he served in the British Royal Army Medical Corps. In 1919 he returned to the task of founding the new Institute, and served as its Director until 1945. In 1929, during his service at the Rowett Research Institute, he also founded the Duthie Experimental Farm, which functioned in association with the Institute; in 1931, the Commonwealth Bureau of Nutrition was created and located at the Institute. In 1942, Sir John was also appointed Professor of Agriculture at the University of Aberdeen. He resigned from these posts in 1945 to stand for Parliament, to which he was elected.
In October 1945, Sir John attended the Quebec Conference as a technical adviser to the British delegation and was elected Director-General of FAO for a two-year term. At the Third Session of the Conference in 1947, he accepted an extension of his term until a successor could be selected. After a Special Session of the Conference elected that successor on 14 April 1948, Sir John left FAO on 26 April 1948. Although he had accomplished a great deal in developing the Organization's basic structures and programme, he left with a feeling of grave disappointment over the rejection of his idea for a World Food Board.
From 1948 onward, Sir John, who in January 1949 became Lord Boyd Orr, operated his farm in Angus, served as Chancellor of Glasgow University, and devoted much time and energy to travel throughout many parts of the world in the interest of better understanding among nations and of world peace. He died on 25 June 1971, in his 91st year. Lady Boyd Orr died on 5 June 1980, in her 99th year.
Norris Edward Dodd was born on 20 July 1879 at Nashua, Iowa, USA, and was educated in schools in that state. At the age of 20 he moved west, first to North and South Dakota, and then to Oregon, where he settled in 1900. He was trained as a pharmacist, was registered as a pharmacist in 1903, and during his first decade in Oregon he established pharmacies in Pendleton, Pilot Rock, Baker, Haines and Wallowa. At 30 he bought, near Haines, his first 160 acres of farmland, which eventually grew to 2000 acres, and on which he raised wheat and Hereford cattle. But he also had a variety of other interests, including participation in companies to build telephone lines, install electricity and build theatres and community recreation centres. There were other businesses as well: a feed mill, a sawmill, a planing mill and box factory, and hay and grain warehouses. A cornet player, he also organized orchestras.
In 1933 Mr. Dodd became involved in US Department of Agriculture farm programmes, first as Chairman of his County Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) Wheat Committee and then as Chairman of the Oregon Corn-Hog Board of Review. In 1936 he was named Chairman of the Oregon State Agricultural Conservation Committee. In 1938 he was selected to serve as AAA's field representative in the Western States; in the autumn of that year he was made AAA's Assistant Director for the Western States, and became Director in 1939. Then he served as Chief of AAA from 1943 to 1945. From 1945 to 1946 he was Director, Field Service Branch, in the Production and Marketing Administration of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). In 1946 he was appointed Under-Secretary of Agriculture, and held this post until he became Director-General of FAO in 1948.
Mr. Dodd served as US Delegate to the Second and Third Sessions of the FAO Conference, and to several Council sessions. On 14 April 1948 a Special Session of the FAO Conference elected him Director-General, but he took up his duties only on 7 June of that year. Re-elected in December 1951 for two years, he actually served until 21 February 1954, when his successor took office.
It was during Mr. Dodd's term of office that the Headquarters of the Organization was transferred from Washington to Rome.
Mr. Dodd was married on 28 August 1905 to Pauline Ensminger, and they had one daughter. His first wife died in March 1948, and he married Ara Pruit in 1954. Upon his departure from FAO, he retired to Phoenix, Arizona, where he died on 23 June 1968, in his 89th year. His widow, Ara, continues to reside in Phoenix.
Philip V. Cardon was born in Logan, Utah, USA, on 25 April 1889. He received a B.Sc. degree from Utah State University in 1909 and later an M.Sc. degree in agricultural economics from the University of California. He was awarded honorary doctorates by Utah State University and Montana State College.
Mr. Cardon devoted much of his career to agricultural research. He took up his first post at a small USDA field station in Nephi, Utah, in 1909. From 1922 to 1925 he left research to serve as editor of the Utah Farmer, in Salt Lake City.He then served in various research and teaching posts until becoming Director of the Utah State Experiment Station in Logan, a post he held until 1935, when he joined the Bureau of Plant Industry in Washington as Principal Agronomist, to direct research work on forage crops. In 1942 he became Assistant Administrator of the Agricultural Research Administration (ARA), in which seven research bureaux had been combined, and from 1945 to 1952 he served as ARA's Administrator. He retired from that post in 1952, and until 1954 served as Director of the USDA Graduate School.
Mr. Cardon first became involved in FAO affairs in 1943, when he participated in the Hot Springs Conference as a member of the Technical Secretariat. Subsequently he served as Chairman of the Standing Advisory Committee on Agriculture, in which capacity he was also a member of the Coordinating Committee.
Mr. Cardon was elected Director-General of FAO on 9 December 1953 and took office on 22 February 1954. Owing to ill health, he resigned on 12 April 1956.
Mr. Cardon died on 13 October 1965, in Salt Lake City, Utah, in his 77th year. His wife Leah died on 28 November 1970.
Binay Ranjan Sen was born in Dibrugahr, Assam, India, on 1 January 1898. He was educated at Calcutta University and Oxford, and received honorary LL.D. degrees from St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia and the University of Dublin,' as well as an honorary fellowship from St. Catherine's College, Oxford, and decorations from the Governments of Chad, Gabon, Ivory Coast, the Republic of Korea, Lebanon, Morocco, and the Vatican.
During his long career with the Government of India, Mr. Sen served as District Magistrate in Midnapore (1937–1940), Revenue Secretary, Government of Bengal (1940–1942), Director of Civil Evacuation and Relief Commissioner, Bengal (1942–1943), Director General of Food, Government of India (1943–1946), Secretary, Department of Food (1946–1947), Minister at Embassy of India in Washington (1947–1950), Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture (1948), Ambassador to Italy and Yugoslavia (1950–1951 and 1953–1954), Ambassador to the United States and Mexico (1951–1952), and Ambassador to Japan (1954–1956).
Mr. Sen represented his Government at a number of FAO Conference and Council sessions, and also at some UN meetings, including those of ECOSOC and the Security Council. He was elected Director-General of FAO at the Third Special Session of the FAO Conference on 18 September 1956, and served in this post from 26 November 1956 until the end of 1967.
Among the innovations that took place during Mr. Sen's term of office were the development of the Freedom from Hunger Campaign, and the holding of the first World Food Congress in 1963.
Mr. Sen married Chiroprava Chatterjee in 1931; they have four daughters.
Addeke Hendrik Boerma was born on 3 April 1912 at Anloo, Netherlands. He was graduated from the Agricultural University in Wageningen in 1934, where he specialized in horticulture and agricultural economics. He received honorary degrees from Michigan State University (1968); Central College, Pella, Iowa (1969); the Agricultural University, Wageningen (1970); Gembloux University (1971); the University of Agricultural Science, Keszthely, Hungary (1972); the University of Bologna (1973); and the University of Athens (1973). He was also decorated by the Governments of Belgium, France, Italy and the Netherlands, and in 1976 received the Waterier Peace Prize from the Carnegie Foundation in The Hague.
Upon his graduation from the University of Wageningen, Mr. Boerma worked with a Dutch farmers' organization from 1935 to 1938. In 1938 he entered the Netherlands Government Service as officer in charge of preparation of food distribution and management in case of war. He served in this capacity until 1940, when he joined the Food Supply Office of the Netherlands Ministry of Agriculture. From 1942 to 1944 he was Director, Crop Marketing Board, and Director, Purchasing Office for Agricultural Produce in the Ministry. In 1944 he was appointed Government Commissioner for Food and Agriculture in the liberated portion of the Netherlands, and in 1945 Acting Director General of Food. From 1946 to 1948 he was the Netherlands' Government Commissioner for Foreign Agricultural Relations.
Mr. Boerma first became involved in FAO affairs in 1946, when he participated in the Preparatory Commission set up following the Copenhagen Conference. Following the establishment of the FAO Council, he represented his Government in it. In 1948 he took up the post of FAO Regional Representative for Europe, which he held until 1951, when FAO's Headquarters was transferred to Rome. At that time, Mr. Boerma became Director, Economics Division, a post he held until 1958, when he was designated Director, Programme and Budgetary Service. In 1960 this post was elevated to the level of Assistant Director-General, and he served in this capacity until 1962. When the World Food Programme was established in 1962, he became its first Executive Director.
In November 1967, Mr. Boerma was elected to the post of Director-General of FAO for a four-year term, from 1 January 1968 to 31 December 1971. In November 1971 he was re-elected for a further four years, until the end of 1975. Mr. Boerma married Maretta G. H. Posthuma and they had three daughters. After his first marriage was dissolved, Mr. Boerma married Dinah Johnson; they have two daughters and now live in Vienna, Austria.
Edouard Saouma was born on 6 November 1926 in Beirut. He received a degree in agricultural chemistry from the School of Engineering of St. Joseph's University in Beirut in 1949, and a diploma in agronomy from the National School of Agronomy in Montpellier, France, in 1952.
In Lebanon, Mr. Saouma served as Director of the Tel Amara Agricultural School in 1952 and 1953; as Director of the National Centre for Farm Mechanization in 1954 and 1955; as Director-General of the National Institute for Agricultural Research from 1955 to 1962; and as Minister of Agriculture,Forestry and Fisheries in 1970. From 1960 to 1962 he was a member of the Governing Board of the National Grains Office.
Mr. Saouma participated in FAO Conference and Council sessions from 1955 through 1961 on behalf of the Government of Lebanon, and from 1957 through 1961 he was a member of the Programme Committee.
From 1962 to 1965 Mr. Saouma served as FAO's Deputy Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific, in New Delhi. In 1965 he was appointed Director of the Land and Water Development Division, a post he occupied until the end of 1975. From 1969 through 1975 he also served as Chairman of the Interdepartmental Working Group on Natural Resources and the Human Environment. In November 1975 he was elected by the FAO Conference to the post of Director-General for the six-year period 1976–1981. He has been nominated for a second six-year term (1982–1987) and is the only candidate whose name will be before the FAO Conference for this post in November 1981. Mr. Saouma has received honorary doctorates from the Universities of Indonesia, Korea, Peru, Uruguay, Warsaw (Poland), and the Agricultural Universities of Faisalabad (Pakistan), the Philippines and the Punjab (India). Among the decorations he has received are: Grand-croix de l'Ordre national du Cèdre (Lebanon), Saïd Akl Prize (Lebanon), Mérite agricole (France), Grand-croix de l'Ordre national du Tchad, Grand-croix de l'Ordre national du Ghana, Grand-croix de l'Ordre national de la Haute-Volta, Gran Cruz al Mérito Agrícola de España, Knight Commander of the Order of Merit of Greece, Orden del Mérito Agrícola de Colombia, and the Gran Oficial Orden de Vasco Nuñez de Balboa (Panama).
Among the innovations introduced by Mr. Saouma during his first term as Director-General two are of particular note. He was responsible for setting up a corps of FAO Representatives, as a main instrument for the decentralization of FAO's activities to the country level. As of June 1981 there were 55 country offices covering 66 countries; it is planned to set up 7 more by the end of 1981, and for the 1982–83 biennium it is proposed to expand the number to 74. Mr. Saouma is also responsible for the establishment within the Regular Programme of a Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) for the provision of small-scale, short-term assistance of an urgent nature. The amount set aside for these activities in 1980–81 was approximately 11.7% of FAO's budget, and a similar proportion is proposed for 1982–83.
Mr. Saouma is married to Inez Forero; they have one son and two daughters.
This post has been occupied in turn by William Noble Clark (January–June 1948), Sir Herbert Broadley (1948–1958), Dr. F. T. Wahlen (1958–1959), Sir Norman C. Wright (1959–1963), Oris V. Wells (1963–1971), Roy I. Jackson (1972–1977), and Dr. Ralph W. Phillips (1978–1981). A brief account of the background and achievements of each of these men who has served as alter ego to one or more of the Directors–General is set out below.
William Noble Clark was born on 18 September 1891 at Lake Preston, South Dakota, USA. He received a B.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1915, and after further study at the University of Minnesota in 1926 and Northwestern University in 1927 he obtained an M.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1930.
Meanwhile he had begun his professional career in 1915 as a teacher at what is now Michigan State University. In 1917 he became a farm manager in Cook County, Illinois, and from 1918 to 1922 he worked as agricultural adviser to the Wisconsin Colonization Company. Between 1922 and 1927 he was County Agricultural Agent in Ontonagon County, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Mr. Clark joined the University of Wisconsin staff in 1927 as Assistant Dean of the College of Agriculture, and in 1930 he became Assistant Director of its Agricultural Experiment Station. In 1938 he was appointed Associate Director of the Station, a post he held until he retired in July 1962.
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| 1. | Left: Commemorative plaque at the Homestead Hotel, Hot Springs, Virginia (Photo FAO) | |
| 2. | Below: The Homestead Hotel, Hot Springs, Virginia,site of the 1943 United Nations Conference on Food and Agriculture (Photo Homestead) | |
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| 3. | Right: Commemorative plaque at the Chateau Frontenac, Quebec, Canada (Photo FAO ) | |
| 4. | Below: The Chateau Frontenac, Quebec, Canada, where FAO was founded in 1945 (Photo Chateau Frontenac) | |
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| 5. | Above: 2841 McGill Terrace, N.W., Washington, D.C., seat of the Interim Commission and (for a short period after the Quebec Conference) FAO Headquarters (Photo FAO) | ||
| 6. | Below:2000 MassachusettsAvenue,N.W., Washington,D.C., main FAO Headquarters building, 1946/47 (Photo FAO) | ||
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| 20. | Above: The Longfellow Building, Connecticut and Rhode Island Avenues, N.W., Washington, D.C.,main FAO Headquarters building, 1948–1951 (Photo FAO) | ||
| 21. | Below: FAO Headquarters, Via delle Terfsme di Caracalla, Rome, Italy, since 1951 (Photo FAO) | ||
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Among the special assignments Mr. Clark carried out during his career were that of Chairman of the Association of Land Grant Colleges and Universities' Committee on Postwar Agricultural Policy, 1943–47; Member of the President's Commission on Migratory Labour, 1950–51; and Chairman of the FAO Mission to Poland during the summer of 1947.
Mr. Clark obtained leave from the University of Wisconsin to serve during the first six months of 1948 as the first Deputy Director-General of FAO, in order to provide a bridge between the first Director-General, Sir John Boyd Orr, and the second, Norris E. Dodd. In practice, he took over many of the details of management of FAO during the closing months of Sir John's term of office, and served as Acting Director-General after Sir John's departure on 26 April 1948 until Mr. Dodd assumed office on 7 June. He then terminated his assignment with FAO on 9 June 1948, and returned to his post at the University of Wisconsin.
Mr. Clark was married on 4 September 1918 to Margaret Hunt; they had one son and two daughters. They are living in retirement in Seattle, Washington.
Herbert Broadley was born at Louth, Lincolnshire, England, on 23 November 1892, and was graduated from Birkbeck College, University of London, in 1915. From 1912 to 1926 he served in the British Civil Service, in the Military Department of the India Office until 1920, and in the Board of Trade until 1926. During this latter period he was involved in a number of international negotiations: he served as Secretary of an Imperial Customs Conference and Secretary of a German Reparations Act Committee, both in 1921; Assistant Secretary of the Anglo-Soviet Commercial Treaty in 1924; Secretary of the Imperial Economic Committee in 1925–26; Secretary of the Anglo-German Commercial Treaty in 1925; and Assistant Secretary of the Imperial Economic Conference of 1926.
In 1926 he joined an advertising firm and was managing director of its Berlin branch from 1927 to 1939.
In 1939 he joined the British Ministry of Food as Assistant Secretary, becoming Principal Assistant Secretary in 1940, Deputy Secretary in 1941, and Second Secretary in 1945. He represented his country as a member of its delegations to the FAO Conferences in Quebec and Copenhagen, and led its delegation to the International Wheat Conference in 1947 and 1948. He became a Commander of the British Empire in 1943 and was knighted in 1947.
In June 1948, Sir Herbert was appointed Deputy Director-General of FAO; he occupied this post until June 1958, when he retired after having served with three Directors-General, Dodd, Cardon and Sen. During the period from 12 April 1956, when Mr. Cardon left his post, until Mr. Sen assumed office on 26 November 1956, he served as Acting Director-General.
Following his retirement from FAO, Sir Herbert served as UNICEF's representative in Great Britain from 1958 to 1968.
Sir Herbert became Commander of Belgium's Order of the Crown in 1948. He married Kathleen May Moore in 1927. Sir Herbert and Lady Broadley live in retirement in Surrey, England.
Friedrich Traugott Wahlen was born on 10 April 1899 at Gmeis (Mirchel), in the Canton of Berne, Switzerland. He received a diploma in agronomy in 1920, and a doctorate of technical science in 1922, from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. He has also been awarded an honorary doctorate of medicine by the University of Zurich, honorary doctorates of agricultural science by the University of Göttingen and Laval University, an honorary doctorate of law by the University of Basel, and an honorary doctorate of technical sciences by the Federal Institute of Technology. Other honours he received have been the Marcel Benoist Prize for his outstanding scientific contribution to the welfare of Switzerland, membership in the Swedish Royal Academy, and membership in 15 societies in Switzerland and abroad. Dr. Wahlen's first professional post was as assistant instructor of agronomy at the Federal Institute of Technology from 1920 to 1922. From 1922 to 1929 he served in the Canadian Civil Service, first as supervising analyst in the Dominion Seed Laboratory in Quebec, and then as chief analyst in the Dominion Department of Agriculture in Ottawa. In 1929 he returned to Switzerland, where he served as Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station at Oerlikon until 1943. He then became professor of agronomy at the Federal Institute of Technology, a post he held until 1949. During World War II he served as Chief of the Section of Agricultural Production and Home Economics in the Swiss War Food Office from 1938 to 1942, and from 1942 to 1945 was Commissioner for Food Production. During this latter period he organized the “Wahlen Plan” for ensuring Switzerland's food supply during World War II. He is the author of many scientific and technical publications.
Dr. Wahlen represented Switzerland on many international economic missions, and in international gatherings, including the Third Session of the FAO Conference, which was held in Geneva in 1947 and which he chaired.
From 1949 to 1958 Dr. Wahlen served as Director of FAO's Agriculture Division. Also during this period, he was designated Chief of the Organization's Expanded Technical Assistance Programme from 1950 to 1952. On 1 July 1958 he became Deputy Director-General, a post he occupied only until January 1959, when he returned to Switzerland to become a Member of the Federal Council.
As a Member of the Federal Council, Dr. Wahlen served at various times as Federal Councillor for Justice and Police, for Public Economy, and for the Political Department, and as President of the Swiss Confederation. In 1967 he became Chairman of a Commission for the Revision of the Swiss Constitution. Dr. Wahlen married Helen Rosalie Hopf on 11 October 1923. They live in retirement in Berne.
Norman Charles Wright was born on 19 February 1900. He received M.A. and D.Sc. degrees from Oxford University, and a Ph.D. from Cambridge. Among many honours received during his career were fellowships of the Royal Institute of Chemistry and of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He was knighted in 1955.
From 1922 to 1924 he was an agricultural research scholar, and from 1924 to 1926 a research assistant, at the National Institute for Research in Dairying at the University of Reading. From 1926 to 1928 he was a Commonwealth Fund Fellow at Cornell University and at the USDA in Washington. In 1928 he became the first Director of the Hannah Dairy Research Institute in Ayr, Scotland, a post he held until 1947. Simultaneously, he served as Honorary Lecturer at the University of Glasgow from 1932 to 1947. In 1947 he became Chief Scientific Adviser (Food) to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, where he served until 1959.
In addition to these activities, he carried out many special assignments. In 1936–37 he was Special Adviser to the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research in India; a member of a Scientific Advisory Mission, Middle East Supply Centre in 1944–45; a special adviser to the Government of Ceylon in 1945; a member of the FAO Mission to Greece in 1946; Chairman of the Agricultural Education Association, 1948–50; Member of the Colonial Agricultural Advisory Council, 1947–55; Member of the Agricultural Research Council, 1950–55; Member of the Colonial Research Council, 1950–54; Member of the Council of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1950–56, and its General Secretary, 1958–59; and Member of the FAO Programme Committee, 1953–59. He was the author of many scientific papers and other publications.
Sir Norman became Deputy Director-General of FAO on 16 January 1959 and served until July 1963. Upon his retirement from that post, he served from 1963 to 1970 as Secretary of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Sir Norman married Janet Robinson Ledingham in 1928. They had one daughter. Sir Norman died on 16 July 1970, at the age of 70. Lady Wright lives in London.
Oris Vernon Wells was born at Slate Springs, Missouri, USA, on 18 December 1903. He received a B.S. degree from New Mexico State University in 1928, and subsequently did post-graduate work at the University of Minnesota in 1931–32, and as social science scholar at Harvard University. He was awarded an honorary D.Sc. by Montana State College in 1950, and an LL.D. by New Mexico State University in 1952.
Mr. Wells entered the USDA in 1929 and served there in a number of capacities until June 1961. From 1942 to 1945 he was statistical adviser to the War Food Administration; from 1946 to 1953, Chief of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics; and from 1953 to 1961, Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service. He received the Department's Distinguished Service Award in 1954. Among the other titles he has received are Fellow of the American Farm Economics Association, Fellow of the American Statistics Association, and Officer in the Government of Italy's Order of Merit.
Mr. Wells first became active in FAO affairs in 1945–46, when he served as a consultant in the preparation of the first World Food Survey. A member of US delegations to FAO Conferences in 1946, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1955 and 1957, he served as a member of the Programme Committee from 1953 to 1959, and as its Chairman in 1959.
In June 1961, Mr. Wells was appointed Assistant Director-General for FAO's Economics Department. A year later, in June 1962, he became Assistant Director-General, Programme and Budgetary Service, where he served until July 1963. At that time he was appointed Deputy Director-General, a post which he held until his retirement in December 1971.
During 1972, Mr. Wells carried out two consulting assignments for FAO, attending the third session of UNCTAD in Santiago and the UN Conference on the Environment in Stockholm. From 1973–1975 he served as a consultant to the Ford Foundation on food information systems.
Mr. Wells married Frances Ingram on 28 May 1930; they have one son and one daughter. They now reside in Alexandria, Virginia.
Roy I. Jackson was born in Juneau, Alaska, USA, on 14 November 1916. He was graduated from the University of Washington in 1939 with a B.S. in fisheries, and did intermittent graduate work at the same institution from 1939 to 1943. After gaining some experience as a fisheries biologist and engineer he entered the University of British Columbia in 1946, and in 1948 received a degree of Bachelor of Applied Science in Civil Engineering. Mr. Jackson is a Fellow of the American Institute of Research Biologists.
Mr. Jackson began his professional career in 1938, with the International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission, occupying posts in turn as field worker, scientist, assistant chief engineer and, from 1951 to 1955, Assistant Director. In 1955, he became Executive Director of the International North Pacific Fisheries Commission, a post he occupied until 1964.
On 28 April 1964 Mr. Jackson joined FAO as Director of the Fisheries Division. When the Division was upgraded to Department status, on 1 January 1966, he became Assistant Director-General, and served in this capacity until his appointment as Deputy Director-General of FAO on 1 January 1972.
Retiring from FAO at the end of 1977, Mr. Jackson returned to the fisheries field, in which he continues to be very active as a consultant.
Mr. Jackson married Priscilla Wicks in 1943; they have four children. They now reside in Seattle, Washington.
Ralph Wesley Phillips was born in Parsons, West Virginia, USA, on 7 February 1909. He received a B.S. degree in agriculture from Berea College (Berea, Kentucky) in 1930, and an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Missouri in 1931 and 1934 respectively. He received honorary Doctor of Science degrees from Berea College in 1952 and from West Virginia University in 1970.
Dr. Phillips served as research assistant in animal husbandry at the University of Missouri from 1930 to 1933; as instructor and assistant animal husbandman at the University of Massachusetts from 1933 to 1936; as associate animal husbandman and physiologist in the USDA from 1936 to 1939; as Professor and Head, Department of Animal Husbandry, at Utah State University from 1939 to 1941; as senior animal husbandman in charge of animal genetics investigations in the USDA from 1941 to December 1946; as Chief of the Animal Production Branch of FAO from December 1946 to May 1949; and as Deputy Director of its Agriculture Division from May 1949 to July 1957. He then returned to the USDA, where he was Executive Director for International Organization Affairs until early January 1978.
Dr. Phillips first became involved in FAO affairs in 1944–45, when he participated in the work of the Interim Commission in preparation for the First Session of the FAO Conference. In 1946 he was a member of the Standing Advisory Committee on Agriculture which met in Copenhagen in advance of the Second Session of the Conference. Between 1957 and 1977, he was a member of his country's delegations to practically all FAO Council and Conference sessions, and to many Regional Conferences, the Committee on Agriculture, and other FAO meetings. During this period he also chaired four FAO consultations on animal genetic resources. He was a member of the FAO Programme Committee from 1962 through 1977, serving as its Vice-Chairman from 1964 through 1973, and as its Chairman from 1974 through 1977.
Special assignments carried out during Dr. Phillips' career have included serving as founding editor of the Journal of Animal Science, 1941–1949; as consultant on animal breeding in China and India for the US Department of State, February 1943–March 1944; as Scientific Secretary for Agriculture, UN Conference on Science and Technology for the Benefit of Less Developed Areas, January 1962–March 1963; and as President of the American Genetic Association, 1967. He presented the L.S. Linck lecture series for the Agricultural Institute of Canada in 1969 and 1970.
Dr. Phillips became Deputy Director-General of FAO in January 1978; his term of office expires on 31 December 1981.
Special honours he has received have included the USDA's Superior Service Award in 1960 and its Distinguished Service Award in 1970; the title of Fellow of the American Society of Animal Science in 1965; Berea College's Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1968; the American Society of Animal Science's International Animal Agriculture Award in 1975; the title of Officer in the Government of Italy's Order of Merit in 1966; and Honorary Membership in the American Home Economics Association in 1976. He is author of about 240 scientific papers, chapters in books, and other publications on the physiology of reproduction, climatology, animal genetics, animal production and international agriculture.
Dr. Phillips married Mary Pozzi on 1 June 1934; they had one daughter. Mrs. Phillips died on 26 February 1981.
