Wilf Keller elected new AIC board chair

Wilf Keller is the new head of the Agricultural Institute of Canada.

Keller is a well-known agricultural researcher who has worked for nearly 40 years mainly in the field of biotechnology development and application for the genetic modification of crops. In this time he has led numerous major research efforts.

Keller worked at the Research Branch of Agriculture Canada in Ottawa from 1973-89, where he pursued research on cell genetics of selected Canadian crops and contributed to the establishment of a plant biotechnology research program, which he chaired from 1980-89.

In 1990, he accepted a position with the Plant Biotechnology Institute (PBI) of the National Research Council of Canada in Saskatoon and served as group leader for canola biotechnology research and head of the Transgenic Plant Centre until 1999, when he assumed the position of research director. In 2007 he took a one-year posting as the acting director general of the PBI.

From June 2008 to May 2012, Keller served as president and CEO for Genome Prairie and is currently president of Ag-West Bio Inc.

He replaces Lianne Dwyer, who completed her term as chair but will remain on the board. Dwyer was originally elected to the Board in 2010 and became Chair in February 2014. Among other achievements, she oversaw the introduction of Canada’s first agricultural research policy in 2015.

Andrea Brocklebank has also joined the board of AIC as a director. She is the executive director of the Beef Cattle Research Council, a division of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association.