The inaugural class of Indian students in two dual degree programs offered by Cornell with India's Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) graduated Jan. 7 on TNAU's campus in Coimbatore, India.

The graduates -- six who participated in a Master of Professional Studies (MPS) program in plant breeding, and six who participated in the MPS program in food science -- first studied at Cornell in Ithaca June to December 2009 before completing their requirements at TNAU. Each graduate received an MPS degree from Cornell and a Master of Technology degree from TNAU.

The graduation ceremony was attended by Cornell staff and eight faculty members, including Max Pfeffer, senior associate dean in Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), and Ronnie Coffman, director of International Programs in CALS; some 40 Cornell students participating in the CALS International Agriculture and Rural Development (IARD) 602 field course; and many TNAU officials, faculty and students. TNAU Vice Chancellor P. Murugesa Boopathi presided over the main event.

"Two interests in particular are common to both TNAU and Cornell," said Pfeffer at the ceremony. "First, both strive to contribute to the development of knowledge that informs our understanding of global agriculture and food systems. Second, TNAU and Cornell have a common interest in advanced pedagogy."

A second cohort of 13 students (six in plant breeding and seven in food science) began their studies last June and will graduate in January 2012.

The degree is designed to give Indian students comprehensive exposure to global food systems, which they might then apply in future employment in nongovernmental organizations, banks, or private or public industries, while some may pursue doctoral degrees, said Coffman. The training is also intended to provide students with the skills to fill a critical need for agriculture and rural development managers who are well versed in global issues and perspectives, he added.

"This program addresses the emerging human resource needs of India's rapidly growing seed and food processing sectors, which are expanding at over 15 percent every year," said K.V. Raman, an IARD and plant breeding professor and associate director of International Programs in CALS. "Several students who graduated from this program are now employed in this sector with good benefits."

"As a joint endeavor, the TNAU-Cornell MPS is a program with global reach," said Pfeffer at the ceremony. "Certainly the interactions between Indian and American students can play a role in laying the groundwork for the proliferation of a global perspective on agriculture and food systems."

The ceremony was covered extensively in India's major newspapers and television broadcasts.

The program has been funded by a five-year, $3 million grant from the Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust through the Cornell-Sathguru Foundation for Development, and a matching contribution of up to $1 million from the foundation, which promotes education, agriculture, technology transfer and rural development.