21 September 2010
One of CSIRO’s leading research directors responsible for promoting the international competitiveness of Australia’s agrifood sector, Dr Bruce Lee, has been named the 2010 recipient of the Rabobank Leadership Award.
Dr Lee, who is director of CSIRO’s Food Futures National Research Flagship program, was presented with the award – which recognises outstanding contribution in leadership of Australasia’s food, beverage and agribusiness industries – at the annual Rabobank Leadership Dinner in Sydney last night.
Dr Lee, an agricultural scientist, is a former career businessman who spent a total of 22 years in research and senior leadership roles with global corporates in Europe before joining the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia’s national science agency, to head its Food Futures Flagship research program in 2004.
Announcing the award recipient, Rabobank chief executive officer Thos Gieskes said as a leading agricultural scientist, Dr Lee “somewhat broke the mould of what might typically be considered a business leader”.
“But in fact, the work Bruce is doing with the CSIRO’s Food Futures Flagship is playing a crucial role in leadership of not just one company, but of our entire industry, so in that respect, as well as in many others, he is a true leader of the agribusiness industry,” Mr Gieskes said.
Speaking at the presentation dinner, Dr Lee said he was extremely honored to receive the award.
“This is fantastic recognition by the industry that science has a significant role to play in agribusiness success,” he said. “I’m very grateful to CSIRO whose research model has allowed me to play a pivotal role in that success.”
A collaboration between CSIRO, industry and research partners, the Food Futures Flagship is designed to transform Australia’s agrifood sector by applying leading-edge technologies to high-potential food industries. A mix of research, investment and partnerships, its goal is to add $3 billion annually to the Australian agrifood industry.
Mr Gieskes said Dr Lee was an “outstanding leader who had headed the Food Futures Flagship since its inception, delivering exceptional results not only for the CSIRO, but for the local and global food and agribusiness industries and for Australian and global consumers”.
“Work undertaken by CSIRO, under Bruce’s leadership, has already resulted in significant realisable impact in Australia and is poised to make enormous future contributions to the food, beverage and agribusiness sectors of Australia and New Zealand,” Mr Gieskes said. “At maturity, this work is estimated to have a potential worth of up to $9 billion for Australia’s food and agricultural industries.”
But the potential impact of Dr Lee’s work goes far beyond just benefiting the food and agribusiness industries,” Mr Gieskes said.
“In the world now, we have a rapidly increasing global population whose food requirements will essentially have to be serviced from a limited available base of arable land,” he said. “The work being undertaken by Bruce and his team, and those they are partnering with, in all likelihood will ultimately play a role in ensuring the world is better able to feed its growing population. And in that way, contribute to fighting global famine.”
Achievements of the Food Futures Flagship include:
- development of a range of innovative and commercially-valuable grain-based products
- the pipeline development of a new wheat variety with the prospect of increasing yields by 20 to 30 per cent
- working with industry to more than double farmed prawn production yields and work to help improve the meat quality and value of the northern Australian beef herd through the use of testes stem cell transfer technology.
In his role at CSIRO, Dr Lee has provided science and business development leadership to a team of more than 250 leading research scientists and technical staff.
Mr Gieskes said Dr Lee, in his current role and throughout his career, had displayed the characteristics of a true leader.
“He has played a pivotal role in world-leading food and agricultural technology developments. But most importantly, Bruce has worked hard to ensure that technological advances are made available to help those in less developed countries,” he said.
Dr Lee’s previous roles in international business include head of Global Lisensing Biotechnology with Syngenta AG, manager and head licensing and technology acquisition with Novartis AG and manager In-Licensing and Technology Acquisition with Ciba-Geigy AG.
He has a Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Hons) and a Master of Science in Agriculture from the University of Sydney. He also holds a Doctor of Science in Agriculture, Plant Nutrition and Physiology (magna cum laude) from the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany.
The Rabobank Leadership Award is a key recognition of achievement in – and contribution to – Australia and New Zealand’s food, beverage and agribusiness industries. Past winners of the annual award include agribusiness leaders Robert Hill Smith, Nick Burton Taylor, Max Ould and John Watson.
The Rabobank Leadership Dinner was held at the Art Gallery of NSW. Keynote speaker was Sunny Verghese, group managing director and CEO of Olam International, who spoke about the prospects for Australia and New Zealand’s food and agribusiness sectors meeting growing demand in Asia.
Rabobank New Zealand is a part of the international Rabobank Group, the world's leading specialist in food and agribusiness banking. Rabobank has more than 110 years' experience providing customised banking and finance solutions to businesses involved in all aspects of food and agribusiness. Rabobank is structured as a cooperative and operates in 48 countries, servicing the needs of more than nine million clients worldwide through a network of more than 1600 offices and branches. Rabobank New Zealand is one of the leading rural lenders and a significant provider of business and corporate banking and financial services to the New Zealand food and agribusiness sector. The bank has 30 branches throughout New Zealand.
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Denise Shaw
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Phone: +61 2 8115 2744 or +61 439 603 525
Email: denise.shaw@rabobank.com