Borlaug lecturer encourages increased educational opportunities in developing countries
M. Peter McPherson (center) meets N.C. State administrators.
Photo by Becky Kirkland
The number of higher education students in Africa is doubling every five years, creating tremendous opportunities for partnerships between U.S. and African institutions of higher education, M. Peter McPherson told an N.C. State University audience in October.
McPherson, president of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, was speaker at the 2008 Nobel Laureate Dr. Norman E. Borlaug Lecture on Global Service to Environment and Society. The annual lecture, held the same month as World Food Day, is sponsored by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Natural Resources.
McPherson has a long history of involvement in higher education, finance and international development. He has served as U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator and has been involved with development organizations aimed at food production.
The growth of primary and secondary educational opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa means greater demand for higher education to provide teachers and technical experts in food production. McPherson said African universities have expressed a need for more faculty — higher-quality faculty and more women faculty members — as well as greater research capacity and better management and governance structure.
“Since the late 1980s, development people forgot the lesson about teaching people to fish and got into giving out fish, big-time,” McPherson said. “We need to give medicine to kids, but we also need to do health-care training.”
McPherson said the World Bank is interested in returning to support of higher education in developing countries.
USAID, with matching support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is issuing competitive planning grants in 2009 for partnerships that build higher education capacity with African universities. N.C. State hopes to compete for a grant.
During the Borlaug event, Dr. William Dvorak, N.C. State professor of forestry and environmental resources, received the 2008 Norman E. Borlaug Award for Service to Society and the Environment. He was honored for dedication and innovation in bringing together industry, government and university researchers to successfully domesticate and conserve tree species around the world.
The Borlaug Award is presented annually by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Natural Resources to an N.C. State faculty member in recognition of exemplary service to the environment and society through any mechanism of scholarly work contributing directly or indirectly to the improvement of the human and natural world condition.
— Natalie Hampton
McPherson, president of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, was speaker at the 2008 Nobel Laureate Dr. Norman E. Borlaug Lecture on Global Service to Environment and Society. The annual lecture, held the same month as World Food Day, is sponsored by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Natural Resources.
McPherson has a long history of involvement in higher education, finance and international development. He has served as U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator and has been involved with development organizations aimed at food production.
The growth of primary and secondary educational opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa means greater demand for higher education to provide teachers and technical experts in food production. McPherson said African universities have expressed a need for more faculty — higher-quality faculty and more women faculty members — as well as greater research capacity and better management and governance structure.
“Since the late 1980s, development people forgot the lesson about teaching people to fish and got into giving out fish, big-time,” McPherson said. “We need to give medicine to kids, but we also need to do health-care training.”
McPherson said the World Bank is interested in returning to support of higher education in developing countries.
USAID, with matching support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is issuing competitive planning grants in 2009 for partnerships that build higher education capacity with African universities. N.C. State hopes to compete for a grant.
During the Borlaug event, Dr. William Dvorak, N.C. State professor of forestry and environmental resources, received the 2008 Norman E. Borlaug Award for Service to Society and the Environment. He was honored for dedication and innovation in bringing together industry, government and university researchers to successfully domesticate and conserve tree species around the world.
The Borlaug Award is presented annually by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Natural Resources to an N.C. State faculty member in recognition of exemplary service to the environment and society through any mechanism of scholarly work contributing directly or indirectly to the improvement of the human and natural world condition.
— Natalie Hampton