Dr. S. K. DeDatta
Associate Vice President for International Affairs and
Director, Office of International Research, Education, and Development (OIRED)
Dr. De Datta, Associate Vice President for International Affairs, Director of the Office of International Research, Education, and Development, and Professor, Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA has more than 36 years of experience in international agriculture throughout the world where his career has encompassed extensive research, the guiding of graduate students and post doctoral scientists, research administration, program development, financial and general administration. His experiences have involved him in both strategic and applied research, technology generation in rice culture, international research in agricultural sciences, training and technology transfer. Dr. De Datta has graduated 77 M.S. and Ph.D. students from 23 countries. He has published 361 journal articles, 3 books and 6 book chapters. He has received numerous national and international awards, including a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Soil Science Society of America (SSSA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), National Academy of Agricultural Sciences in India, and the Indian Society of Soil Science. He has also received the International Services Award in Agronomy (ASA), Soil Science (SSSA), and Crop Science (CSSA). He also received the Norman Borlaug Award for his contribution to the green revolution in Asia, and a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Hawaii. His research has had a profound influence in rice culture in all rice-producing nations of the world. The revolutionary improvements in rice production of the last 36 years are contemporary with his research, teaching, and administrative career.
While establishing his record as a researcher and teacher, Dr. De Datta also played essential administrative roles as the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) Department Head of Agronomy and currently as the Director of the Office of International Research and Development and Associate Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech. For the past six years he has served as Virginia Tech's administrator for many projects in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, Russia, Ukraine and Eastern Europe. Since he joined Virginia Tech in June of 1991, Dr. De Datta has brought in over $57 million in contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements. He is skilled in contract management, staff recruitment and deployment, and personnel management. Dr. De Datta is currently managing approximately $31 million for USAID, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank and other donor-funded projects through OIRED/Virginia Tech.
Dr. De Datta lived for more than 27 years in an international community while serving at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) headquarters in the Philippines. He has traveled extensively in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Australia, Canada, Western Europe, Albania, Ukraine, and Russia in connection with international research and development programs.