Jan Low, M.S. ’85, Ph.D. ’94, an agricultural economist whose work integrating agriculture and nutrition has improved the health of millions worldwide, has joined Cornell’s Department of Global Development as an adjunct professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Low, principal scientist with the International Potato Center (CIP) based in Nairobi, Kenya, has dedicated her career to developing and promoting biofortified orange-fleshed sweetpotato to combat vitamin A deficiency. In 2016 she earned the World Food Prize for her work designing and implementing integrated agriculture-nutrition-marketing approaches that raise incomes while improving diets and nutritional status.

Credit: Provided

“Engaging with the world’s biggest challenges can only be done through a multidisciplinary approach that fuses science with direct action,” Low said. “I am thrilled to join Global Development and my Cornell colleagues to tackle food system transformation, climate change and the myriad of challenges facing the world.”

Working with plant breeders and community stakeholders in sub-Saharan Africa, Low is dedicated to the urgent need to transform global and local food systems to be healthier, more affordable, and less damaging to the environment.

Read more in the CALS Newsroom.