Shenggen Fan

Dr. Fan is currently the Chair Professor at the College of Economics and Management at the China Agricultural University in Beijing. He previously spent over 20 years with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), including as the Director General for the ten-year period until his departure in December 2019, leading the process of developing two institutional strategies, fundraising strategies, financing plans, and governance and operational strategies and plans. His previous roles within IFPRI included several years as the Division Director, Development Strategy and Governance, and prior to that, as a Research Fellow. His earlier professional experience also includes time as a Research Economist in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology at the University of Arkansas and as a Post-doctoral Fellow and Associate Research Officer at the International Service for National Agricultural Research in the Netherlands.

Dr. Fan has sat on a wide range of expert panels and advisory bodies. He is currently a member of the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, an independent international group of leaders that works with international, multi-sector stakeholders to help governments in low- and middle-income countries develop evidence-based policies that make high-quality diets safe, affordable, and accessible. He is also a member of the Advisory Council of the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford, whose academics work across more than 30 solutions-focused, pioneering research programs that cut across disciplines to find solutions to the world's most urgent challenges. Other positions include membership on the Board of the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture and the Council of Advisers of the World Food Prize. He is a recipient of various international awards and has been extensively published.

Dr. Fan brings CGIAR insider experience as well as extensive experience in developing strong connections, including at the most senior level, with a wide range of influential stakeholders, including global institutions, national governments, multinational companies, and international non-governmental agencies. He has engaged widely on issues related to agriculture, food, health, climate change, natural resource management, and information technologies.