Dr. Masa Iwanaga is a Special Advisor and former President of the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) in Tsukuba, Japan.
He has a distinguished 27-year career in the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) system, working for CIP in Peru, CIAT in Colombia, and IPGRI (now Bioversity International) in Italy. He culminated his CGIAR service as Director General of CIMMYT in Mexico.
Dr. Iwanaga brings strong governance experience, having served on the boards of IITA, Africa Rice Center, the Global Crop Diversity Trust, the World Vegetable Center, CIP, and IRRI. He was also a member of the Independent Steering Committee of the Global Rice Science Program (GRiSP).
He was also Chief Scientist at Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, chaired the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA) in 2017, and the G20 Meeting of Agricultural Chief Scientists (G20-MACS) in 2018.
He holds a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Genetics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His global leadership continues to influence agricultural innovation and sustainability.