Earlier this week, Ethiopian geneticist Gebisa Ejeta received a prestigious honor from US President Joe Biden at the White House. Ejeta, along with eight other scientists, was awarded the National Medal of Science, the highest scientific honor in the nationhighest scientific honor in the nation.
Ejeta, who grew up in rural west-central Ethiopia, has dedicated his career to studying sorghum, an ancient gluten-free grain. He received the World Food Prize in 2009 for his work in developing drought- and parasite-resistant hybrid strains of sorghum. That same year, he was honored with Ethiopia’s National Hero AwardNational Hero Award.
“Gebisa Ejeta is one of the most influential geneticists in the world,” said Mung Chiang, president of Purdue University. Ejeta has been a researcher and faculty member at Purdue since 1984.
“Our university is proud to celebrate this well-deserved honor from the president of the United States,” Chiang added in a
Roughly 500 million people in Africa and Asia depend on sorghum as a food source, and the grain is also widely used as livestock feed worldwide, including the US. Ejeta’s research focuses on key traits of sorghum, such as nutritional quality, drought and cold tolerance, and resistance to pests, diseases, and Striga, a harmful parasitic plant.
“Through the development of drought- and parasite-resistant sorghum strains, Ejeta has contributed to food security for millions,” said President Biden during the medal presentation ceremonyceremony. “His advocacy for science, policy, and institutions as catalysts for economic development has benefited farmers and strengthened nations.”
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