Robert F. Chandler

Who is Robert F. Chandler?

Robert F. Chandler was an award-winning horticulturalist who founded the International Rice Research Institute.

He obtained a degree in Horticulture from the University of Maine in 1929, and his Ph.D. in Pomology from the University of Maryland in 1934. He first taught at Cornell University and went on to become the Dean of the College of Agriculture, and then the President, of the University of New Hampshire.

From 1959 to 1972, Dr. Chandler was the founding Director of the International Rice Research Institute in Los Banos, Philippines. Working with a team of twenty-four researchers from numerous countrie sin Southeast Asia, Dr. Chandler gathered thousands of rice varieties to be tested and eventually selected to be grown under various conditions. Dr. Chandler's leadership was instrumental in developing over two dozen new varieties of rice that produced higher yields than traditional strains and increased rice production. These varieties helped the Philippines to achieve self-sufficiency in rice by 1968, and still provide food for millions across Asia. Later, he led the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center in Taiwan.