R. JAMES COOK

R. James Cook is the Endowed Chair in Wheat Research at Washington State University, Pullman, WA, a position assumed April 1, 1998. Prior to this appointment, he worked as a Research Plant Pathologist with USDA-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) at Pullman from 1965 through March of 1998, conducting research on biological approaches to control root diseases of Pacific Northwest wheat. He has co-authored two books on biological control of plant pathogens and one book on wheat health management. In 1988, he led the team of researchers at Washington State University that made the first field test of a genetically modified organism in the Pacific Northwest, which was a microorganism for root disease control on wheat. He has worked for the past 10 years at the interface of science and policy on biotechnology applied to food and agriculture. He chaired an international working group that produced the 1993 OECE report on Safety Considerations for Biotechnology: Scale-up of Crop Plants, is a coauthor of the white paper, Transgenic Plants and World Agriculture released jointly in July, 2000 by seven academies of sciences, and currently serves on the USDA Advisory Committee on Agricultural Biotechnology. His awards include Superior Service Award, Distinguished Service Award, 1985 ARS Distinguished Scientist of the Year and ARS Science Hall of Fame, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture; Fellow, Award of Distinction, and Ruth Allen Award from the American Phytopathological Society; and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1993.