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Natalia de Leon, Molly Jahn named fellows of Crop Science Society of America

Agronomy professors Natalia de Leon and Molly Jahn have been elected fellows of the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), an honor bestowed on only 0.3% of the society’s active and emeritus members for “professional achievements and meritorious service.”

Below are bios for de Leon and Jahn provided as part of CSSA’s announcement about these honors:

Natalia de Leon is a professor in the Department of Agronomy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Dr. de Leon received her MS and PhD from the UW Madison followed by a postdoctoral experience at Michigan State University. She worked in the commercial sector for about two years before joining the faculty at UW. She is internationally recognized for her work integrating different research platforms to improve plant breeding efficiency. She has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed publications and has been invited to present at numerous research conferences. Dr. de Leon provides leadership for several organizations including the Maize Genetics Cooperation, the Genomes to Fields initiative, and several university committees. She serves CSSA as member, technical editor for Crop Science and associate editor for The Plant Genome. Dr. de Leon is also active in diversity and inclusion efforts at the local and national levels.

Molly Jahn is a professor in the Department of Agronomy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and is Founding Principal of the Jahn Research Group, headquartered in Madison, WI. From 2006-11, she was the 12th Dean of UW–Madison’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Director of the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station, and from 2009-10, Deputy/Acting USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics. She has trained >50 graduate students and postdoctoral associates, and authored >125 peer-reviewed publications. For more than 30 years, she supported East West Seed, a humanitarian for-profit vegetable seed enterprise focusing on market entry in SE Asia. She has produced a number of high impact reports with partners such as Lloyd’s of London, Thomson Reuters, the US SOCOM and the US Army War College. Dr. Jahn consults globally for business, universities, governments, philanthropy, and international multi-lateral institutions in agriculture, food security, risk in food systems, life sciences and environment.

For more information on the 2020 awards, including award descriptions, visit: www.crops.org/awards/view.