Robert Fraley, who won the World Food Prize in 2013 for his salient role in the development of agricultural biotechnology, will leave Monsanto following its merger with Bayer, ending a 35-year career at the world’s largest seed and ag-chemical company. Fraley, currently the company’s chief technology officer, led the successful 1996 release of soybeans genetically engineered to tolerate doses of the weedkiller glyphosate.
Farmers embraced GMO crops despite their higher seed costs for the promise of improved yields and easier weed control. Herbicides are a vital part of so-called low- and no-till practices that reduce soil erosion. GMO crops dominate U.S. corn, soybean, cotton, and sugarbeet production.
Fraley is among several Monsanto officials, including chief executive Hugh Grant, who “announced they will be departing shortly after closing” of the merger, said Monsanto, based in St. Louis, on Monday. “Each will stay with the company for a period of time … to help support a successful transition with Bayer.”
Robert Reiter will be the research and development leader for the new Crop Science division, which will combine the business activities of Monsanto’s and Bayer’s current crop science units. Now in charge of technology integration at Monsanto, Reiter will be based at the Crop Science headquarters in Monheim, Germany, according to a Bayer announcement. The company said Liam Condon, a member of Bayer’s management board, will become president of the new division.
Born in 1953 and raised on a family farm in east-central Illinois, Fraley was hired by Monsanto as a research specialist in 1981, soon after he earned a doctorate in microbiology and biochemistry from the University of Illinois. The World Food Prize Foundation named Fraley, Marc Van Montagu, and Mary-Dell Chilton as co-winners of the 2013 prize “for their independent, individual breakthrough achievements in founding, developing, and applying modern agricultural biotechnology. … Their work led to development of a host of genetically enhanced crops, which, by 2012, were grown on more than 170 million hectares around the globe by 17.3 million farmers, over 90 percent of whom were small-resource farmers in developing countries.”
Fraley was not immediately available for questions about his plans after leaving Monsanto.
“The closing is still subject to pending regulatory approval. Bayer and Monsanto continue to work closely with regulators in order to close the transaction in the second quarter of 2018,” said Bayer.